A tale of two hearts
by Sex-a-licious Usagi
Summary: Allen has a painful past. Lavi wants to help Allen away from it. What happens when a pirate ship's Captain takes a little angel under his wing? LAVEN. Rated M for a reason.
1. The Prostitute and The Captain

**Warnings: Violence, slight lemon, cursing, slight OOC.**

x

One emerald-green eye explored the turquoise sea below. All he could hear right now was seagulls, singing their songs for him. His beloved crew was still sleeping below deck. His eyes perked up from the sea, towards sunrise. It held so many colors in high seas, and you could see when it rose from the horizon, bit by bit. The turquoise sea was now colored in golden rays, waiting for new adventures to begin. But somehow, this man on the deck knew that this day might be even more colorful than the sunrise which lit up the whole sea.

x

"Get the fuck out of my tavern, cheater-boy!" a raspy voice yelled and soon after, a young boy was thrown out of the door to land on wooden boxes, which shattered from the heavy impact, "You're not welcome anymore, freak!"

The boy who was called recently, and always, a freak, wiped blood from his temple. That was a pretty hard throw, if he might add. The boy groaned from the pain the impact had caused and turned his gaze away from the tavern.

"It hurts so much..." he murmured and tried to stand up from his current position. After a while he managed to get up and start to walk towards his own spot in the alley, quite near the port. The boy loved the breeze from the sea. It felt somewhat warm and had a salty smell to it. His dream was to sail on the high seas, enjoying the sunrise which would light up the whole sea. At least, these were all things the boy had heard from the sailors. But while the boy loved the sea, he despised pirates. Pirates were cruel drunks who weren't interested in what other people thought about them. They were brutal killers. But they had something that this boy didn't have. Something that was called freedom.

"Where do you think you're going, boy?" a tall man with wavy, dark hair and a mole under his eye, asked the fragile boy in front of him, "You do know that if you want to survive and get some money, you better go take care of your clients. They don't like to wait forever for little kittens like you."

"I'm having a damn break, Tyki," he growled back at the man who dared to call him kitten. No, he may look like a little kitten, but from the inside he was like a full-grown tiger with sharp teeth and fangs.

"No seas como ese," Tyki said waving his hands lazily. He liked to speak Spanish, even though the white-haired boy never understood him, "I mean, don't be like that. Come on, you had your break, and you'll get the money once you satisfy your clients. So hurry up already. We don't have all day Allen-chan~."

The boy, named Allen hated his life so much. He wanted to escape it. He would have sex with guys who paid 500 silver coins. With that amount you could barely get half an apple in this town. It was a town which held nothing, but terror in Allen's miserable life. The town, where only rich people lived. Allen didn't have much of a future here. He couldn't leave either. He didn't have any money to spend on things like that and no one, would take him onboard. He looked like a freak with a weird scar on his left eye. Not to mention his mop of white hair.

Allen drooped his head low in defeat and started to follow the Portuguese man towards the inn. It was where he usually took care of his filthy customers. He heard Tyki greet every single man on their way there. Maybe trying to get some new clients for Allen. Oh how Allen wished that they would be a bit more… neat. He didn't know which he despised more, pirates or this hell hole that he called life. Someone would probably call him nuts if he said, that this hell hole _is_ life. A more appropriate word for his life would be prison. A prison you'll never get out of once you've stepped in.

"So… Your next customer likes to get rough so prepare for it," Tyki said once they had entered Allen's private room for his clients. Allen would sleep in the streets in summers but once it got too cold he would be allowed to sleep in his room. But once he slept there, it was only two hours sleep and then he would work again. It was like 24/7 sex-service.

Allen sighed heavily and collapsed on the bed when Tyki had disappeared through the door. He had enough time to get himself clean in the bath and maybe change into some more seductive clothes like corset and women's underwear. Allen hated this. He hated all the woman clothing Tyki threw at him but Allen knew it would drive the men crazy. It wasn't usual to get young boys dress up like a tavern-whore.

"To the bath it is."

After the bath, Allen wore his overbust corset. It was pretty traditional and classic. Hell, it was really sexy on him too. It had wonderful ruffles on the bottom and it was made from purple satin. It had black stripes on the satin and all in all, it looked good on Allen's somewhat feminine body.

_Knock knock knock._

"Come in~" Allen purred in sickly sweet voice. Let the show begin.

x

After having violent sex three times with the same man Allen felt disgusted. He got 500 silver coins from that. He wondered how the man's stamina lasted for sex like that, and three times. Allen winced at the pain in his lower back. He wouldn't be able to take anymore clients and Tyki would be so pissed. It wasn't his fault, Tyki should take more care of his pets.

"So how was it, kitty cat?" Tyki asked from the door and smirked at his limping little kitten. He looked so helpless that Tyki had a mind to rape him right then and there, "How much did you get?"

"500," Allen said and gave four-hundred to Tyki. It was the deal every single time. Tyki would take most of it every single fucking time. Allen wondered when he had last eaten. There weren't many taverns left where he could play poker and get some free cash. Everyone already knew what he looked like.

"Can I please go now? I can't handle anymore cl-"

"Shush Allen. I know you can. I'm sending one up now. I don't know what he likes, but I know he is a bit more rich than the last one," Tyki smirked, leaving an almost crying Allen behind.

Allen didn't want to do this job anymore. A few tears rolled down his cheeks and the door opened without knocking. The man in front of him looked muscular. He wore expensive clothing. He went straight for the action and bit Allen's neck, hard. Way too hard.

"S-st…" he tried but remembered to keep quiet. No matter how much it hurt, he couldn't say anything. Even if he wouldn't be able breathe anymore, he couldn't say anything. It was the rule or no money would come to him. If the client asked for it, it would've been a different story.

He felt a fist hit his cheek, then Allen was being pushed to the floor like a little whore.

"Suck it," the man demanded from Allen. This was the part where Allen felt like puking. His mouth was forced to take all of the man's length only to be gagging from the disgust and discomfort. Allen felt the man's hand grip his hair forcefully. After that the whole length was forced down Allen's tender throat. It was pulled back, only to be slammed back in a second later. Allen gagged, almost trying to get out of that man's harsh grip. It was futile.

"I like your fiery nature, kitten."

Allen felt like he was tearing up from all the discomfort and pain. Another fist hit his cheekbone probably leaving an ugly bruise afterwards. After the long and painful blow job the man finally came in Allen's mouth, making him swallow it all. The man didn't care if Allen choked while trying to do it. He wanted it to be swallowed.

"Thanks, kitten," he said, running his finger along Allen's jawline, "Since you were so… disobedient..." he murmured and gave Allen only 300 hundred silver coins.

Allen couldn't believe his eyes. How the hell was he going to eat today? The man left and Tyki returned to collect his pay. Tyki's eyes were almost on fire when he say the money, causing him to slap Allen across the face.

"What the fuck were you doing!?" he demanded.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean t-", and another "slap" was heard in the inn. Allen's head felt dizzy from all the pain he had, had to endure that day, "I am so sorry, Tyki."

"Get the fuck out of here. Tomorrow you will have ten clients and if you get even one times this amount I will fucking slaughter you. Do you understand?"

Allen fought back his tears and nodded. He was allowed to take a bath and change clothes before being kicked out. This was also a punishment for Allen. If Tyki cancelled the clients Allen wouldn't get his food money and so he would be starving on the street. This wasn't Allen's lucky day, not at all.

After Allen had cleaned himself thoroughly he wore black pants and a white dress shirt. He took his old shoes and went outside, saying nothing to Tyki as he walked past him. Outside Allen took notice of the sun. It was mid-day. He would've worked till sunset, but since he screwed up there was nothing to do. He had no friends or siblings.

Allen settled on his blanket, near the port. He watched sailors preparing their ships for new adventures. Allen let out a silent prayer for them: "Let the Gods guide you on your journey."

x

"Lenalee! Give me the map will you?!" Lavi yelled through wind.

The sky had started to gather some really nasty looking clouds. Usually women on board was said to bring misfortune, but to Lavi they were merely something to look at. They would sail for months and no women would be seen in that time. So, this was something he came to on his own. Kanda didn't seem to like the fact that there were three women in this ship. Unfortunately Miranda was some sort of… klutz, but since she was Lenalee's friend Lavi warmly welcomed her to his ship.

"Aye Sir!" Lenalee chirped and jogged beside Lavi. She spread the map and gave Lavi a compass, "We are here," she said and pointed to the map with a nod, "Port Royal is the nearest harbor, so should we head there? It's only an hour away and the clouds sure are looking nasty. We have to refill our food storage also."

"Yes I've noticed it Lenalee. Yu~! Raise the main sail; we're heading to Port Royal!" Lavi yelled at the Japanese man who hated to take orders from the red-haired Mr. Eyepatch.

"Raise it on your own you fucking rabbit!" Kanda growled at Lavi, but went to raise the main sail, with the help of the creepy looking Arystar Krory, "I can do this on my own!"

"Don't be like that, Kanda. I will gladly help you," Krory smiled at Kanda. He was always polite and helpful. Lavi was happy that someone like him had decided to join them. "So... Port Royal? It really is a beautiful city."

Lavi grinned from ear to ear, leaving the helm for Lenalee who was enthusiastic as always to control the ship. He walked over to the men.

"Well, yeah. It's the closest harbour after all, don't cha think?" Lavi smiled like a little boy, "Oh and I bet it's full of beautiful women and… Maybe new crew mates!" he yelled and punched his fist in the air. No one would've believed that he was this ship's captain whom everyone trusted. "Oh, and I think we should keep a low profile and hide our flag before we reach the port. You know, keep low profile so that we… You know?"

Kanda face palmed at Lavi. Surely that man wasn't always the sharpest pen in the pencil case.

"We know, baka usagi. It's like in every port we've ever been to. You and Lenalee take care of the food and I will guard the ship so that I don't make a ruckus anywhere."

"Finally, Yuu got it!" Lavi smiled and tried to braid Kanda's hair, "You can stroll around if you want, but you should really act like a human. No ruckus."

"Get your fucking filthy hands out of my fucking beautiful hair or I will chop them off like leaves out of a tree!"

"Take it easy Yuu~ OH OH OH! That rhymed somehow! Leaves out of a tree!"

"Don't call me that!"

x

Allen perked his head up when he saw beautiful and big ship coming near the port. Ignoring his aching and burning back, the boy stood and walked closer. He wanted to see it better! Allen stopped before the pier and looked at the ship which was currently stopped by the platform. He didn't saw any pirate flags, but the way ship looked like Allen was pretty sure that this was pirate ship. He narrowed his big eyes when a red-haired man stepped onto the platform, a pretty Asian girl following him.

Allen took in the man's appearance: he had fiery red hair and a black bandanna hanging around his neck. The man had an eyepatch covering his right eye, so Allen was pretty sure that yeah, these guys were pirates. But something that really got Allen interested was that single emerald-green eye, which held no emotions even though his lips were curved in care-free grin. He couldn't figure that guy out.

The girl who followed right behind Lavi was some ting of a beauty-queen. This made Allen pretty confused. Why was there a girl on board? She had long hair which was held up in two pig-tails. The color of her hair was greenish black and she had violet eyes, which pretty much complimented her round face and Asian skin tone.

"Should we ask for help from citizens?" Lenalee asked from Lavi, once they were safely off the platform, "Since we don't know the city that well."

"The Great Lavi doesn't need help from the citizens!" Lavi said with an all mighty voice, grinning happily. He looked around and saw a mop of white hair staring at them from behind crates, "Look, they're afraid of us."

"Lavi, it's not every day in Port Royal you see pirate ships, you should know that," Lenalee huffed and walked towards the white haired boy, "Excuse me?" she smiled at Allen who seemed to pale. Lenalee blinked her eyes from the reaction. She was sure there was hatred in his eyes, "We don't mean any harm. We're nice guys."

Allen looked at Lenalee, then he glanced at Lavi. He thought that Lenalee had genuine smile and look in her eyes. That they really didn't mean any harm.

"You're still pirates, barbarians, murderers, and-"

"Hey wait a second!" Lavi whined and flicked Allen's forehead in a brotherly way. He knelt down to Allen's level since he sat on the ground, "We are not like that. Want to come and see? We actually pay for stuff we need and steal from other pirates," Lavi explained to Allen, taking in boy's appearance.

"Are you alright?" he asked, a small amount of concern being heard in his calming voice.

Allen felt something break inside of him. He stared at Lavi in disbelief.

"Did… Did you ask if I was alright?" he asked in confusion. Never in his life had no one asked if he was alright. When Lavi nodded Allen was about to melt. That guy was stranger and a pirate, "Y-yes, I'm fi-fine," Allen stuttered and looked away from Lavi.

Lenalee cupped Allen's cheek with one hand and examined his porcelain skin, which was full of bruises and cuts.

"You know… I can take you to our ship and we can treat your wounds. Is that okay?" she smiled at Allen. Lenalee was sure that her big brother would take care of him easily. Or Lavi's grandfather.

"N-no," Allen mumbled, slapping Lenalee's hand away, "Don't touch me!" he yelled at her, eyes showing nothing more than fear and pain, "Leave me alone!"

Lenalee backed away from Allen and took Lavi's hand.

"I think we should leave him," she whispered to Lavi, "I really want to help him, but we can't cause any ruckus or we'll be hanged. So be a responsible captain and leave the boy alone."

"Lenalady, can't you see? He's afraid," Lavi said, nodding. Of course the all mighty Lavi knew these things. It earned him a heavy sigh from Lenalee.

"Hey kiddo, do you have a home somewhere? It's gonna' rain soon so I think you should go home."

"I…" Allen mumbled and tried to avoid Lavi's gentle gaze as much as he could. He felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment, "I don't ha-have a ho-home," he told them and stood up. "I'll be on my way now. I don't need any help from barbarians like you."

Lavi watched as Allen limped away, to his quiet alley. He shrugged his shoulder and motioned for Lenalee to follow him.

"You know, I kind of felt sorry for him. Port Royal is rich town," he told Lenalee as they walked the streets, "It's not every day you see boys like him here. I mean, people take better care of themselves here, but since everything here is so damn expensive that boy must have a really hard time."

Lenalee followed Lavi thinking about Allen. The boy really looked like he was about to starve. And his wounds, the dried blood and bruises looked really nasty. She had already take a likening to the boy. She somehow felt that the boy was kind of special.

"You took a liking to him also?" she asked.

"Yeah..." Lavi mumbled as they went to a stall that looked like a food storage, "Excuse me, mister?" he asked from the counter, a smile on his face, "We need food to our ship. You bring it to our ship by tomorrow morning and you'll get your pay. We're going to spend three-hundred gold coins."

"Yes sir and welcome to the Port Royal," the man at the counter said with a friendly smile. He didn't seem to care as long as no one robbed him, "Is there something else I can do for you, Mister…?"

"Mr. Bookman," Lavi grinned and shook hands with the man.

"Smith," the man answered back.

"Mr. Smith, do you know a boy with white hair and a weird looking scar over his eye?"

Smith had shivers up his spine at the mere mention of the white-haired boy.

"Yes, I know him. Bit of a weird boy, eh?" he joked and sighed heavily, "I've heard about him from Mr. Mikk who runs the brothel at the centre of the city. If I remember right he is one of the prostitutes. He gets beaten every now and then for stealing food. It seems like Mr. Mikk doesn't pay him enough and the boy doesn't even like the job. The boy is not from the Caribbean, Mr. Bookman. Some people say he was sold as a slave from England. That's all I know."

Lenalee gasped at the story.

"No wonder he yelled at me," she murmured to Lavi who nodded at her.

"Oh, you should be really careful," Smith said with dangerous tone.

"Rumours say that he is a cursed child," he whispered at his guests, "Just like the mermaids."

Lavi held back laughter as the little boy was compared to mermaids.

"Well, the boy might be as pretty as a mermaid, but you shouldn't really judge him if you don't know him personally. I'm not one to say this since I've only talked with him for a while but I assure you, he is not cursed. If he was, why didn't anything happen to us?"

"But that's the thing Mr. Bookman. He has tried to get away from this town with the sailors, but they won't take him even when he offered money. They say that the boy sinks ships the moment he steps foot on them," Smith told them with a nod, "We would be really grateful if he just… went away, but Mr. Mikk has eagle eyes. He sees everything. He wouldn't be very pleased if the boy ran away from him."

Lenalee pouted her lips from slight anger. How dare that man say something like that of the little boy they met awhile ago. She was so sure that deep inside, that boy was worth more than frigging gold or diamonds.

"Listen to me now, Mr. Smith. Where can we find this boy?"

Lavi was surprised to see that Lenalee, who asked to leave the boy alone, was now demanding to find him. It was cute actually.

"Lenalady, take it easy."

"I won't take it easy, Lavi! You said it yourself! That boy suffers from all the pain the townspeople do to him! He doesn't have a home, and he lives with a job he hates," Lenalee was on the verge of crying, making Lavi cringed. This really wasn't Lavi's day.

"Let's kidnap him," Lavi suggested.

"What!? We can't take him with us by force!" Lenalee screamed at Lavi who paled at Lenalee's reaction, "We're not barbarians Lavi!"

"But he doesn't like us, remember?" Lavi laughed, scratching his head. There wasn't really much of a choice if they wanted to save Allen from misery, "And we don't have to use force. We can bribe him!"

The shop owner looked at the arguing pair bemused. These two were going to take that boy away? It was a miracle. Mr. Smith went down on his knees and grabbed a handful of Lavi's coat.

"Please, take that boy away from us!"

"See?" Lavi grinned to Lenalee, "Even he wants us to save the boy from his miserable life. Think about it Lenalady, he can be free as a bird with us."

"I think we should talk about this with our crew, Lavi," Lenalee whispered so that man wouldn't hear them too good. "Even though you make the decis-"

"I've decided. We'll take him with us."

x

Allen curled into his blanket. It had started to rain heavily and his clothes weren't that good for rainy weather. He sniffed and looked back to the port. The pirate ship had lights inside and he could hear the laughter of the crew. Allen sighed and turned his gaze somewhere else. He wished he could have freedom like that.

"Maybe I am asking too much…"

"Hey kiddo!" a familiar voice yelled a few feet from him.

"Come here," he said and waved his hand cheerily. Allen was socked at first. Did that red-haired man call him? Well he did say "kiddo" when they first met, but…

"Fuck off!" Allen yelled at the figure, sulking by the crates. He sure as hell didn't want that filthy pirate calling out for him. Allen wrapped the old and wet blanket tighter around himself when the figure came closer.

"Awww, don't be mean to me. It hurts," Lavi smiled and ruffled Allen's wet hair, "Want to come to our ship? It's warm inside and has shelter from the rain."

"I don't want anything from you!" Allen yelled again when Lavi came closer. He felt instant discomfort when facing the man in front of him. Even though Allen knew deep inside that this guy wouldn't hurt him, the fear was still there.

"But there is food also," Lavi said with a smirk

"Food?" Allen asked and his eyes lit up a bit. He heard and felt his stomach grumble angrily. His cheeks grew red and he mumbled something that Lavi couldn't catch.

"Come on, I'll carry you," Lavi said and tried to wrap his arms around Allen. The reaction was instantaneous. Lavi was hit by a fragile palm which didn't hold any strength.

"Hey… I'm not going to hurt you," he promised and took hold of Allen's hand, "I'm Lavi, Lavi Bookman. What's your name?"

Allen furrowed his brows and tried to remember.

"I was… Named Allen. Allen Walker. I'm usually called… Kitten…" he said, trying not to cry in front of Lavi.

"Okay, Allen," Lavi said and lifted Allen up bridal style. The boy started to panic, but Lavi hushed and carried Allen to their ship, "I'll tend to your wounds and then I'll get you something to eat. Is it okay?"

Allen nodded and tried to relax. He just now noticed Lavi's bare chest. He had a coat on but no shirt under it. Allen blushed and concentrated on listening to his heartbeat. After a while Allen was laid on the bed in the captain's cabin. He watched every move Lavi made in the cabin. Lavi sat beside Allen with bottle of alcohol and bandages.

"This is going to sting, so hold still," he said as he applied alcohol on some cotton wool. Lavi swiped it gently across Allen's dirty wounds.

"What happened to you?"

"It none of your concern, Lavi", Allen said, flinching at the pain of the alcohol on his wounds, "It's private."

Lavi said nothing when he saw sadness in those silver pools. He took in boy's small figure and beautiful white hair. The scar wasn't ugly, it gave him an exotic look.

"So… Where are you from then?"

"From England," Allen said and huffed, "You knew that already", he added and flicked Lavi's forehead, "I bet you heard from one of the townspeople already what I am and why I am."

"Actually… I didn't quite catch how," Lavi grinned and bandaged Allen's arm. When he was done he put a plaster on Allen's cheek, "Well… You don't have to tell me if you don't want. I mean… Take your time. I understand what it is to have a painful past. My whole crew knows that."

"Your crew?" Allen asked in disbelief. There was no way Lavi owned this crew. That man was too care-free for his own good.

"Yeah, my crew. Welcome to the Black Exorcist, Mr. Walker," Lavi laughed, petting Allen's hair, "So, I'll get you some food here. You must be starving. I'll also try to find some dry clothes for you."

Allen nodded and sat up on the bed. It was pretty comfortable.

"Uh… Lavi?"

Lavi turned around to look at the mop of white hair.

"Yes?"

"Thanks," he whispered and hung his head. Allen was embarrassed that he had finally found someone to thank, "Don't go telling people that I'm here, please. I want to go with you, even though… I despise your kind."

"It's okay, Allen. I am sure that in few weeks you'll think differently about our crew," Lavi grinned and went to the door, "We'll set sail tomorrow morning. You can sleep the night in my cabin, on the sofa. I'll make room in the crew's cabin tomorrow if that's fine with you?"

"Yes, that's okay with me," Allen smiled at Lavi. He seemed nice to Allen, "Uh… Is that girl I saw with you also on this ship?"

"You mean Lenalee? Yeah, but don't go drooling on her or her big brother might smack your head off," Lavi warned and laughed at Allen's pale face, "But don't worry. I'll stop him before he does anything to you," he promised to the boy, who Lavi had started to described as an angel in his head, "Be right back."

Allen watched as the big wooden door closed after Lavi. The boy looked around the cabin. First thing he realized was that it was full of books. Allen stood up from the bed and went to the wide bookshelves.

"Wow…" he gasped. Some of these must've been more than two-hundred years old. He didn't dare touch anything since Lavi was being kind to him.

The little angel took some notice of the bed too. It was a French-styled "Loire" bed. It was made from dark wood and looked like it had suffered some sort of damage. It had beautiful ornate flower carvings. Plus, it was pretty much queen-sized. He walked over to the big and wide desk. It was covered in maps and old papers with weird language. There was something about "Innocence". The desk itself had many drawers down the front. It was the most beautiful desk he had ever seen. Lavi had a good sense when it came decorating. The rug on the floor was Persian. It was soft against Allen's bare feet. He had to throw his shoes away so that he wouldn't mess up Lavi's room. It seemed like Lavi didn't use his boots in the cabin either.

"Sorry about the mess on the desk," Lavi grinned and put a plate on it. He gathered the papers and maps, putting them all into separate drawers neatly.

"Dig in. It's all yours."

Allen looked at the plate, wiping drool from his mouth.

"Is this really mine?" he whimpered taking a chicken leg in his hand. It was expensive food. There were potatoes, vegetables, pork, fish, rice and chicken. Allen was in heaven.

Lavi took another chair and sat beside Allen.

"Oh yes, it's all yours. But when we set sail tomorrow I'll teach you, along with other crew mates, what you'll do on our ship. I bet you'd be a pretty good coxswain if I teach you. Tell me about yourself a little. How did you end up in Port Royal?" he asked now that Allen was enchanted with all the food.

"Well… I was adopted on Christmas. I don't remember my birthdate," Allen started and munched the chicken leg in his mouth. He wondered what he should tell, "My parents abandoned me, because they didn't have enough money to afford a child at the moment. So I was placed in some kind of orphanage. Kids used to bully me because I had really low self-esteem. Then this really nice man, Mana, decided to adopt me and I was named Allen. Mana was clown in a traveling circus."

Lavi smiled when Allen told about Mana. It seemed like his whole face lit up. He stayed quiet and listened, but that was when Allen's light mood changed.

"I… I think that's it," he whispered quietly at Lavi, "I'm sorry. I don't really like talking about my past to strangers and since I don't-"

"I understand, Allen. There are things that you have to keep secret. But remember that sometimes talking about your past to somebody, can really helps You don't have to keep it inside. We're family from now on and you'll tell me when you think the time is right," Lavi told Allen, and placed his hand on the other's, "So… Were you part of the circus?"

Allen smiled at Lavi's comforting word, his mood becoming a bit more cheerful when Lavi asked about the circus.

"Yes, I was. It was really fun actually. I got to do acrobatics and assist my foster dad in his performances. I loved being there."

"Oh… That sure is a good skill here if you do acrobatics. Lenalee's pretty good, but Komui always whines about her being in high places. You could work on the masts too if you'd like… Oh… Hold on. How old are you?"

Allen pondered it for a while.

"Sixteen-years old," he told Lavi and smiled his fake smile like always, "Tell me about yourself. Why did you end up being… a pirate?"

"Well… That's a long story, so we'll leave it for other time," Lavi smiled and thinking things about himself, "Well… I'm nineteen-years old so yeah, I'm pretty young to be a Captain, but the crew trusts me. I got the eyepatch when I was a kid. Don't go asking details, not gonna tell ya for a long time," he smirked and ruffled Allen's white hair, "So… White hair, huh…?"

"It's from trauma," Allen explained to Lavi who looked at him with a questioning look on his face. "It is categorised as 'Things I don't like to talk about'."

"Oh yeah, sorry," Lavi said and looked out of the big window behind him, "Who was this Mikk guy anyways? Why do people think you're cursed?"

Allen shrugged his shoulders, but then pointed at his scar.

"See the pentacle?" he asked and Lavi nodded, "You have many history books so you might know what it means to people here. It wasn't really my fault. It was carved on me when I was sold as a slave to Tyki," Allen told the curious pirate, "An eternal mark. To whom I belong to", he whispered to Lavi, "I can't run away. They always find me. Most of the slaves were marked with X-marks on their hipbone, but Tyki had something else on his mind. This is something I can't hide."

"And there we have a problem," Lavi growled, thinking of this Tyki-person who had marked Allen. There is no way that guy would let Allen go away just like that with that mark on, "You'll stay here at the cabin tomorrow until we are at the high seas again. I'll make sure that Tyki won't find out that you're here."

"Really?" Allen asked Lavi, a real smile appearing on his pale lips. Lavi felt like he could melt because of that single smile given to him.

"It's a promise," Lavi said, taking the empty plate from Allen, "Are you still hungry?"

Allen grinned at Lavi.

"Like a wolf."

x

Allen woke up to the sound of seagulls and sun light piercing through the window. He groaned and pulled the blanket up to cover his eyes. It wasn't long until Allen stood up from the sofa and looked around.

"Where the hell I am?" he asked himself. After he re-played yesterday's events in his head he remembered, that he was on Lavi's ship; Black Exorcist. What name was that anyways? His stomach grumbled from slight hunger.

"Better find the caboose," Allen murmured, leaving the cabin. It seemed like the ship was already moving towards the unknown seas.

"Ah, Allen!" Lenalee smiled when Allen came out from the cabin, "I was just about to come wake you up. We've safely gotten away from Port Royal's area. How was your sleep?"

"Ah… It was good, thank you," Allen said and bowed politely, "Umm… Where is the caboose? I'm hungry… If it doesn't bother you!"

Lenalee giggled and motioned for Allen to follow her.

"Our ship is pretty large and the caboose is at the prow. You're currently at the stern, Lavi's cabin. Here are the rooms for our crew. Lavi thought that you'd roommate would be Kanda, since his other bed is empty right now. Here is the caboose. There is Jerry. He'll make you something for breakfast. Once you're ready, go change your clothes. Lavi put some clothes on his bed for you. Then you can come to the deck."

Allen took in the information he was given and went to Jerry, who was currently making food. "Um… Hello?"

"Well hello you cutie~" Jerry chirped and cupped Allen's head to his hands, "Such a pretty face you have there. You must be the new boy Lavi was talking about~! What's your name hun~? I'm Jerry."

"Allen Walker," he introduced himself, his cheeks burning up from the contact, "Ca-can I get some br-breakfast, please?"

"Oh sure hun. What would you like? I can make anything you want~ Ohohohoho~!" Jerry giggled and tilted his head.

"Well… Can I get some pancakes and honey?" Allen asked. He didn't know what kind of food Jerry could make, even though he said 'anything you want', "A whole lot of them. I'm bottomless pit."

"Sure thing~! Take a seat and I'll bring your breakfast in a minute!" Jerry said and went to cook his breakfast. Meanwhile Allen took seat next to grumpy looking Japanese man who was eating soba and drinking tea.

"Hello, my name is Allen Walker," he said and stretched out his hand for a shake. Allen flinched when the man growled and glared daggers at him.

"Move you fucking hand away or I will fucking chop it off bean sprout!" the Japanese man growled, taking out his katana, "With Mugen, I will end your life if you ever try to touch me with your filthy hands!"

Allen backed away from this intimidating man and coughed slightly.

"Are you sure that kind of language is fit for a woman?" he asked, smiling sweetly at the flaming Kanda, "It is not polite to tell your name when someone introduces himself."

"What the fuck did you just said?!" he growled, pressing Mugen's tip to Allen's chest, "I'm not a woman you damned bean sprout. What are you? Albino?"

"Stop it now, Kanda-kun," Krory said to him,trying to pull him away from Allen, "I'm sorry for his behaviour. This man here is Yuu Kanda, and my name is Arystar Krory."

"It is pleasure to meet you, Krory," Allen said and glared at Kanda, "And I'm most definitely not a bean sprout, Jerkanda."

"What the fuck bean sprout!?"

"Is that really all you can say Kanda?" Allen smirked evilly at the Japanese man who tried to get out of Krory's grasp, "Is your brain capacity that low?"

"Allen, Kanda!" Lenalee yelled from the door. Soon two boys were collapsed on the floor thanks to Lenalee's long legs and hard boots, "Allen, I was worried about where you were," she sighed, "Lavi said that I should keep an eye out for you because of Kanda."

"Thanks Lenalee, but I think I'll manage," Allen said whimpered from the pain in his forehead. No.1 Rule: Don't mess with Lenalee or you'll get hit by her long legs, "I'll eat and come up after that."

"You do that," Lenalee smiled and went over Kanda. She grabbed Kanda's collar with a sweet smile on her face and said, "Leave Allen alone, got it?"

Kanda flushed at Lenalee's actions and turned his head away from her.

"Che."

Allen sat in his chair and started to eat his delicious breakfast. Honey and pancakes. He had never eaten something like it before. It was so frigging good. Allen scarped the last of the meal to his mouth before making his way back to his cabin. He put on black leather pants (which were pretty tight) and a light blue booty button up shirt. Allen looked at himself in the mirror and blushed. His butt looked more than inviting in these pants. Damn that Lavi. Allen pulled black boots to his knees and looked himself again.

"Not bad…" he murmured and wrapped the sleeves to his elbows. Better.

The angel made his way back onto the deck where he saw Lavi, already waiting for him at the wheel (or helm, which ever one you prefer). His hair was pulled away from his face with the bandanna Allen saw yesterday. This time Lavi had put in some effort and actually worn a shirt under his coat.

"Lavi! What do you want me to do?" Allen asked as he jogged to his side.

"Well, I'll tell you stories in the evening so… I don't know," Lavi laughed with a care-free attitude and ruffled Allen's white locks, "Just kidding. I'll teach you how to a read map", he said and showed the map to Allen, "First you have to learn terminology and the symbol system which we use. It's quite difficult at first, but once you get a hang of it the map will transform into a informative "road map" or something which you have probably used before."

"I'm a quick learner," Allen said quickly, studying the map with his silver eyes, "I'm sure I can do this."

"I'm sure you can, Allen. Anyways, this map here tells you many things; shores, water-depths, shoals and the list goes on and on. It would take too much time to tell you all of them. I have books in my room, so feel free to study them. Do you know how to read compass?" Lavi asked Allen, who nodded, "Well that's good then. I'll show you where we are going and you'll take the helm," he said and put Allen's hand on said helm.

"W-wait Lavi! Don't leave me alone here!" Allen yelled and took hold of his coat, "I'll be the one to blame if we crash somewhere or into something!"

Lavi blinked for a while.

"You've got a point. Okay, I'll watch where you are going, little buddy. Just ask if you want to know something, alright? I think you'll manage."

Allen turned the helm a bit, trying to avoid possible shoals.

"I think there are many shoals to look out."

Lavi had to hold in his laughter.

"Look around you, Allen," he ordered and the boy did, "We are at the high seas. It's nearly impossible to hit any shoals here. I wouldn't let you control the ship if we were near islands,"

Lavi chuckled, patting Allen's shoulder, "You're blushing."

"I am not blushing, stupid Lavi!" Allen complained and hit Lavi's shoulder with his tiny fist.

"Oww, that hurt Allen~" Lavi whined from the 'pain', "Just joking, it didn't hurt one single bit~" he said, flicking Allen's forehead again, "You should respect your Captain, kiddo."

"Why Kanda is an asshole?" Allen asked Lavi out of a blue, "I just tried to introduce myself and he took out his katana and tried to kill me. He isn't very intelligent either. He also said I was a bean sprout."

"Yuu is Yuu. But he doesn't like that I call him Yuu though," Lavi grinned and petted Allen's white locks. They were kind of pretty if you'd ask him, "But why? I think bean sprout suits you, short stack."

"My name is Allen!" he complained again, trying to hit Lavi with his little fists.

'_Maybe this is a good change for me after all.'_

x

**So what did you think about the first chapter? I've never written a chapter this long, but this is a story I'm really getting into now. Don't worry, I am writing the next chapter of "Ice in the Flames" also. But now I took this as my main story.**

**Okay, so I don't own any of the characters or DGM (yes, I forgot it from the top but better later than never, huh?).**

**Port Royal. I didn't choose it Because it's in the Pirates of The Caribbean, but because it's historical town. And I don't know how to speak Spanish, so the translator is my friend.**

**I'd love to have reviews of what you think about this story. Even "It's okay" is fine with me. I'd like to know what you think. And sorry for the grammar mistakes and misspellings. My mother language is not English, but Finnish**


	2. The Shark and the Confusion

"Where the fuck is that whore?!" Tyki grabbed one of the shopkeeper's collars and slammed him against the wall. The shopkeeper shivered from fear and shook his head. He didn't know anything about the white-haired boy who was Tyki's pet.

"I-I'm te-terribly sorry, but I assure you; I don't know where he is!" the man whimpered when a gun was placed on his forehead, "Ma-maybe he ran away? Y-you know.. Sn-sneaked into sh-ship or something… Please don't kill me!"

Tyki sighed and let go of the shopkeeper. He had already looked all over the whole fucking town for the little whore who dared to hide from him. He glanced back to the man and pulled the trigger.

"Aww man… This is a problem. Hey guy, go bleed somewhere else. Or right, you're dead. Well, rot here while I go search for my little kitten," Tyki smirked, leaving the shop.

The Portuguese man made his way to the next shop, where he already saw a man, who was terrified of Tyki's rampage.

"Mr. Smith? I believe you might know something about my little kitten. I was so tired yesterday that I didn't realize that he was missing. It sure is a problem since he was my only money-hole at this moment. Since you're so near Kitten's sleeping spot, you should know something… Or shall I fill you with iron?" he asked smoothly from the shopkeeper in front of him.

**x**

"So, Allen?" Lavi controlled the ship while grinning at Allen beside him, "Have you ever been to sea like this?" he asked from the white-haired boy who sat on the wooden railing in front of him, "You haven't complained much."

Allen turned his gaze from the sea towards the captain.

"Well… It's not like you are treating me wrong. But I haven't seen much yet, so I am not going to jump to any conclusions. And no, I have never been at sea like this. But I think this is way better than being a prostitute."

Lavi huffed, looking at the silver pools which glimmered from the suns rays. "What kind of person was this Tyki was? I get that he is a bad guy and all…"

"Tyki, huh?" Allen asked quietly. He wasn't sure if Lavi even heard that over the wind, "Have you ever heard of… The Noah Family?"

"You mean that old pirate crew which was the richest crew in the whole world? And also the most violent?" Lavi asked Allen. Of course he knew, "But I heard they were hanged by the government… I don't believe in it though."

"You're right Lavi. They were never killed. You seem like a clever guy so I don't think I have to explain too much. Just ask if you feel like you're falling from the carriage," Allen muttered, thinking about what he should tell Lavi, "The Millennium Earl is part of the government who rules the whole Caribbean and some other seas too, including the islands and towns. But the thing is that The Millenium Earl created "the Noah Family" and is their captain."

Lavi almost choked on his spit from the information. How can he, Bookman's apprentice, have missed something this big? He didn't know, but Allen wasn't finished yet.

"Even the government is against slavery, but Earl had something else on his mind. He set his crew to sail around the world to find extraordinary looking guys for slavery. That is me, for example. How many people you know with white hair? Anyway, Tyki tried to sell me forward as a huge prize, but the Millennium Earl had something else up his sleeve. He said that they could make more of a profit if they used me as a prostitute… And the Earl was right. They made so much more money from me by this. I was their only slave who could make a profit. So they must be really angry," Allen explained to Lavi, who looked at Allen, eyes wide as plates.

"What?"Lavi scratched his head, trying to suck in every thing Allen had just said, "So… What you're trying to say is that you're really precious to them?" Nod, "And you were their only source of income right now?" Nod, "Do you think they will search you?" Nod, "Oh… my… god…"

"I'm so sorry! I should've told you it before we set sail!" Allen cried out, almost falling from the railing. Luckily he balanced himself just in time, "Just take me to the next town and leave me the-"

"No," Lavi growled at Allen, who was currently apologizing over small matters, "We're a family now," he smiled after his little growl-show was over. "Anyhow… What else do you know about these Noah guys?"

Allen shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know… Earl once said that they are granted with inhuman powers from "Dark Matter". I don't know what it is, but it's said that their power can be destroyed with Innocence."

"Oh yeah. Innocence is something our crew is looking for. No one knows what it is, but it's said to give magical powers," Lavi laughed, scratching his head again, "Do I sound like a child? Well, but the books say that only few can carry the Innocence and be granted with such powers. That it doesn't choose everyone."

Now everything made sense to Allen. All of those map laying on Lavi's table, and scripts about the Innocence. The boy smiled at Lavi, turning his gaze back to the sea.

"I always dreamed of being free. This all feels so… Surreal."

"Ya think so?" Lavi asked Allen, smiling from ear to ear, "Lemme' prove to you that it's not dream," he leaned in whispering in Allen's ear.

Allen felt his cheeks heat up when Lavi took him in his arms, walking somewhere.

'_Oh my god… What's he doing?'_

After Allen had thought about this, he felt Lavi's arms disappear.

"Eh?" he asked but was soon met with something wet and salty. Allen opened his eyes and realized that he was actually underwater.

'_It's so beaut- WAIT A SECOND!'_

Quickly he kicked his way back to the surface and tried to keep up with the ship.

"You still think this is a dream!? Good wake up for you mate!" Lavi laughed from the deck, waving at Allen, "It's warm, isn't it?! And pretty at the bottom. We are near islands after all!"

"Lavi! What are you doing!?" Lenalee screamed beside him, and looked at where Allen was, "How can you do that to him!? You do remember what Kanda was like when you got him up from there!?"

Allen groaned in frustration. His clothes were a bit too heavy along with the boots, which swallowed all the water they could.

"I-I think I need some help here!" he called out.

Kanda came to see what was happening, an evil grin on his face.

"Let's leave the beansprout alone. He'll manage. And yeah, maybe he might even grow a little if we watered him."

"Kanda!" Lenalee huffed, not hearing at all what Allen was yelling. After lecturing Kanda, she looked where the boy was, "Lavi…? Is that a shark?"

"Hmmmh?" Lavi wondered and stared at the turquoise sea, "It could be dolphin", he grinned, "You know, they save drowning sailors."

"Lavi… I'm having a bad feeling about this," Lenalee said as the shark-looking things moved closer to Allen, "A-Allen! Kick it! It's a shark!"

"Shark!? Where!?" Allen screamed and looked around. Said fish had disappeared, "Oh my god", he whispered, his heart racing from fear, "Get me out of here!"

"It's below him!" the curly-haired woman yelled, who had come to see what was happening, "Allen! Swim!"

"Miranda! It's not going to help him. The shark is faster," Lavi said, looking at the bean sprout who was desperately trying to swim away from the shark, "But yeah, maybe we should get him out of there. Yuuuu~ Go get the rope ladders from below deck," Lavi ordered his friend evenly, "I think Allen's pretty tough."

Allen was on the verge of crying when the shark poked his waist.

"Help me already!"

"It's going to attack Allen! Lavi do something!" Lenalee cried in horror, "I will tell Komui all the bad things about you if you don't do something NOW!"

"What are you doing Junior?" Bookman growled and kicked Lavi's head, "That over there is a great white shark. I think you should get the boy out of there immediately. What kind of idiot are you? I don't want to stitch up a wound from that creature. It's so nasty."

"Yuu is getting the ladders so calm down already!" Lavi said, almost panicking himself, "All- Is that blood!?"

Lenalee's eyes widened when she realized that Allen was holding his waist.

"Oh my god... Lavi! Get the harpoon!"

Lavi did as he was told, getting the big harpoon as quick as he could.

"This wasn't supposed to be a shark area!" he said, aiming at the shark, "I'm afraid that I'll hit Allen! I can't do this!"

"Give me that thing!" an older man with slicked back hair ordered. He took the harpoon and shot the shark immediately, making it sink towards the bottom, "Hey boy, get that spear to me or I'll shoot you too."

Allen looked back at the ship. His eyes widened from the shock he was in. Allen winced from the pain in his ribs and waist.

"Suman," Lavi growled, grabbing the harpoon from him. He gave it to Lenalee, who was already crying, "You don't give orders here. We'll get more spears in the next town," Lavi said, taking his coat and boots off, "I'll help Allen", he said, jumping to the water. He quickly swam up next to Allen, "This is going to draw more sharks here… I am so sorry Allen. This wasn't my intention," Lavi said, taking Allen gently in his arms.

Allen winced again and wrapped his hand around Lavi's shoulders.

"It hurts like hell. And I'll fucking kill you after I'm healed," he threatened Lavi, who swam towards the ladders, laughing at his little threat.

"I like your temper, shortstack," Lavi grinned at Allen. "Can you get on my back? I'll carry you," he said, helping Allen to get on his back, "Hold on tigh- Not that tight. I'm choking."

**x**

Allen grimaced when he looked at his stitched right side. Luckily it wasn't as bad as they first thought it would be. He had, had acupuncture from Lavi's grandfather so it eased his pain a little. Lenalee was sitting right next to him, worrying about his state.

"I couldn't believe that Lavi was so reckless!" Lenalee sniffed beside Allen, almost hugging him to the death, "That Lavi… I really should kick him more than once!"

"I'm fine, Lenalee. Don't worry about it," Allen said tried to convince Lenalee, who was on the verge of tears, "It's not Lavi's fault. It's not like he knew there was going to be a shark," he said in a relaxed tone, making Lenalee calm down a little, "Don't go kicking Lavi, okay? He didn't mean for anything bad to happen to me, I'm sure. And it was fun until the shark came; so calm down."

Lenalee wiped her tears, starting to pet Allen's white hair.

"You're still wet," she giggled, trying to get in a better mood, "Lavi said that we will get to the shore in few minutes. He wants to show you what kind of islands are here. They are actually really pretty and all. I think Lavi wants to apologize, by taking you to the shore for a while."

Allen looked at Lenalee bemused.

"He'll take me to the shore when I can't walk properly with this wound?" he asked, trying to stifle laugh that was bubbling in his stomach. That rabbit…

Lenalee made an 'o' with her mouth.

"That is… a problem," she said, starting to giggle before Allen had chance to do the same thing, "Lavi is such a sweetheart… But he should use his brains a little more," Lenalee smiled, looking at Allen who had raised his hand to his lips. "You can laugh if you want."

"I-it's not li-like that," Allen chuckled, he just hasn't laughed in long long time, "It hurts my side if I laugh," he smiled to Lenalee, "I think you should tell Lavi that me going to shore needs to wait a little while."

Lenalee ruffled Allen's hair and stood up from her stool.

"I'll tell him. Do you need anything? I have my duties, but I can ask someone to bring you food or anything you'd like."

"Actually, I would like to ask about that guy who shot the shark. Lavi doesn't seem to like him, and he is a bit scary if you ask me," Allen murmured and tried to sat up from his current position. Lavi had a really smooth bed in Allen's opinion.

"Suman?" Lenalee asked and sat back down on the stool, "He's just like that…" she sighed, her voice thick with sadness, "I've known him a long time since we used to live in the same town with my big brother. He had a family, wife and daughter. But his daughter died from an illness and soon his wife also fell ill. They didn't have enough money to pay any medical bills. Soon her wife died also, from the same illness. After that he became much more distant. He doesn't really care for others anymore. He also thinks that Lavi is way too young to be a Captain," Lenalee told Allen, thinking about Suman, "I understand Suman though. You should've seen how much Lavi hesitated to kill the shark. He was afraid that he'd shoot you."

Allen let the information from Lenalee sink in.

"I think Lavi is a good captain," Allen huffed to Lenalee, who seemed to be a bit surprised by Allen's confession, "He thinks about his comrades a lot, that's why he couldn't shoot the shark. It just proves that Suman is better at shooting than Lavi. I think being a Captain is much more than just skills. It's about caring about your crew mates."

"That was… deep, Allen," Lenalee giggled, standing up from the stool again, "You shouldn't tell that to Lavi. He might become even more arrogant," she smiled walking to the door, "I'll talk to you later, Allen," Lenalee went out from the wooden door, only to see Lavi eavesdropping behind the door. She closed the door, "How much did you hear, Lavi?"

Lavi grinned happily to Lenalee, who seemed to be annoyed by his eavesdropping.

"Everything I needed to hear. Go tell Yuu that we don't need to stop by the shore today," he said and opened the door to his cabin, "I'll go talk with Allen," Lavi said, hopping inside.

Lenalee smiled after Lavi, starting to make her way to the deck.

"Aye, sir," was heard after she was at the stairs which lead to the deck.

'_Allen is so right about you, Lavi.'_

"Lavi?" Allen asked from the man who had just now sat on the stool beside the bed, "Were you listening?" he whispered, a blush starting to creep up his cheeks.

"Of course not. Who do you think I am?" Lavi huffed and poked Allen's red cheek, "You are the blushing-type," he grinned happily, "Did Gramps bandage you?"

"No, he didn't. He said that in this weather it's not a good idea. It might start to pus if it was wrapped," Allen said, massaging his burning cheeks, "And it's your fault I'm blushing anyways!"

Lavi made an 'o' with his mouth and touched Allen's forehead. "

So you mean you've got a fever?" he murmured, "Gramps didn't mention it, but…"

"No, stupid rabbit," Allen sighed and slapped his hand away gently, "What are you doing here?" he asked bemused, "Don't you have duties?"

Lavi leaned over the bed amused by Allen's questions.

"Well… This is my cabin after all and no, I don't have any duties right now since I gave those to Lenalee so that I can spend some time with my new mate," he said, drawing circles on mattress. He took off his coat and placed it on the bed head, "Is it a problem, little buddy?"

"I'm not that little, Lavi," Allen smiled, starting to lie back on the bed. His side had started to ache again from sitting, "Have you ever got bitten by a shark, Lavi?"

"Why do you ask?" Lavi asked Allen who just shrugged his shoulders, "No, luckily I haven't. I was pretty freaked out that you were though and I couldn't do anything, even though I tried to remain calm. I really thought it was a dolphin," he murmured hanging his head low, "I'm so sorry, Allen."

Allen's eyes widened. Lavi looked so miserable and he had to swallow. No one had ever said "sorry" to him even though he had been hurt so many times.

"It's okay, Lavi. Everyone make mistakes. And I'm fine. It's nothing to worry about," Allen whispered to Lavi. He sank his hand to Lavi's red hair and smiled sadly, "I've suffered worse."

"That was the first time when someone from my crew has suffered because of my actions. And why did it have to be you, of all people?" Lavi sighed, enjoying the warmth of Allen's hand. He closed his eyes, starting to relax in his touch, "You're new for god's sake!"

Allen tilted his head.

"Lavi, don't be like that. Now you know that you can't throw people in the water just like that," he said and flicked Lavi's forehead, "And I think you're a good Captain since you really care about your crew mates. Look at me, Lavi."

Lavi smiled at the mattress, so that Allen didn't catch the smile on his face.

"Do you really think so?" he whined. Oh, he was such a good actor. More praises, please!

"Yes. You're a great Captain!" Allen said with small laugh, "Cheer up, will you?"

"Yayyy~!" Lavi said, jumping up to hug Allen, "I'm happy that you think like that!" he grinned, letting go of Allen when the boy winced in pain, "Oh, sorry 'bout that," Lavi laughed taking a good look at Allen's wound, "Ouch, that really looks nasty. It probably mistook you as sea lion or something," he nodded as he took a book from one of the bookshelves, "I heard that they rarely attack humans."

"Could be," Allen said and scratched at his head. Maybe he looked like a seal them? No, that couldn't be the case, "I've never seen shark a live before, and now that I've seen its teeth and everything… It looked so terrifying."

"I know what I'll do to apologize tp you when you get better," Lavi said as he examined the book in his hands, "You have never swum with dolphins, right? I have. I think you should get an experience like that!"

"Do you even see the difference between shark and dolphin, Lavi?" Allen sighed, remembering that Lavi thought the shark was a dolphin. He didn't want to get bitten again.

"Now I know, bean sprout," Lavi said,putting the book away, "I don't think that is something I can forget so easily," he murmured to Allen, grinning after that, "And I know this nice dolphin area at the Cayman Islands. It's full of dolphins and sea lions. It'll take couple of weeks before we get there so your wound will probably be fine by then~!"

Allen felt excitement twinkle in his chest.

"What's it like?" he asked, completely forgetting the fact that he was called bean sprout; again, "To swim with dolphins?"

Lavi sighed when he tried to remember his first swim with dolphins.

"It feels like they are giving you a new life," he smiled looking up at the roof of his cabin, "I couldn't feel anything but happiness around them and it felt like they knew how I felt."

Allen listened to Lavi's little story, smiling like a little kid.

"How did you felt at that time?" he was curious about Lavi's past.

Lavi's happiness disappeared from his eye, but his lips were still curved into a smile.

"I guess… I was dealing some painful stuff at the time, but it doesn't matter anymore, does it?" he hummed to Allen, "Anyway, it felt like I was cured. Swimming with dolphins, I mean. I think it'd do good for you, Allen."

"I can't wait for it, Lavi."

**x**

"What do you mean he's gone, Tyki?" a young french woman asked with a cold tone, "When the Millennium Earl hears about this, we're all going to be in a big trouble."

"He just wasn't sweet enough," a rough-voiced man groaned and licking at his lollipop, "This lollipop is quite sweet enough."

"Take it easy Lulubell, and yes Skinn, he surely wasn't sweet enough to stay here," Tyki laughed, sliding his hand through his curly hair, "Mr. Smith said that two pirates took him with them because they felt bad for him."

"That is surely a problem," Lulubell sighed and started to file her nails, "Did anybody see any new ships at the port yesterday?"

"I did~" a girl with purple hair and a childish voice giggled, "But I didn't see Allen there."

"Road, we need all the information we can get so that we can go get him back before the Earl hears about this. So why don't you tell me the name of the ship?" Tyki smirked at his cute niece.

"I didn't see the name, Tyki," Road smiled, kicking her legs back and forth on the chair she was sitting on, "But I did see the captain!"

"So what did he look like?" Lulubell sighed. Road was such a troublesome child in her opinion, "Anything special?"

Road hummed, staring at Lulubell.

"He had red hair and an eyepatch. He also had a girl with him, so they carry women on their ship. Not many ships do that."

"And that is our only lead?" Tyki sighed and started to hit his head to the table, "The more time we waste on this, the farther the kitten gets. Lulubell, go ask the sailors if they saw the ship's name so that we can go pursuit them. We can't waste any more time on this. Road, start look for the twins", he ordered and stood from the chair. "I'll start searching documents of red-haired pirate", Tyki said. _Don't worry kitten, your little family will save you from the pirates._

**x**

_**Time skip; two weeks later.**_

"Allen! Don't fall or your wound might reopen!" Lenalee yelled from the deck. Allen was currently wrapping the sails for the night on one of the masts. They were all planning to sleep today without going anywhere, "Lavi, isn't that a bit too dangerous for him?"

Lavi shrugged his shoulders.

"Why should I stop him if he wants to go up and help?" he asked evenly, but was ready to catch Allen if he fell, "See? He's doing fine~"

Kanda was standing next to Lavi, also watching the bean sprout.

"Good thing someone does that for me," he smirked, "It was such a pain in the ass."

"Watch it Yuu, or I'll get you to the mast as well," Lavi grinned and barely dodged the katana which sliced some of his red hair.

"My sex-a-licious hair! Yuu! How dare you ruin my sexiness!?" Lavi whined and faked tears. He collapsed to the deck, whining about his ruined sexiness.

"Shall I make you bald, stupid rabbit?!" Kanda growled, placing the katana to the strands of red hair, "I think it would suit you very we- Ouch!" he hissed and glanced at the Allen. "What the fuck did you throw!?"

Allen grinned, saving Lavi's sex-a-licious hair from complete doom.

"Oh? That was just a compass!" Allen yelled as he finished taking care of the sails, "Or don't you even recognize an object which you use almost every day, Jerkanda?"

"Kanda! Allen! Take it easy, will you?" Lenalee complained, picking up Allen's compass, "It breaks easily so don't go throwing it, Allen!"

Kanda took the compass from Lenalee and threw it back. He smirked evilly when the object neared Allen.

"Whoa!" Allen yelped as he tried to dodge the object which was sent to him. Luckily he did catch it, but his boot slipped from the wood. Allen quickly used his skills as an acrobatic and got his foot tangled in a rope, "That was close one…"

Lavi placed his hand over his heart as he watched Allen dangle.

"Oh my god, Allen…" he wheezed from the deck, "You really are going to make my heart stop any minute now."

Allen giggled and climbed the net connected to the mast.

"Really?" he laughed and walked back to Lavi, "At least the compass isn't broken and I am still alive~"

"Fuck you, bean sprout," Kanda growled and tried to hit Allen with his katana, "Stay still you damned monkey!"

"I'd rather not, Kanda", Allen smirked as he dodged every hit that was pointed to him.

_Whack. Whack._

"What was that for, Lenalee?" Allen whined from the pain in his head. Damn Lenalee and her long legs. Seemed like Kanda got hit too since he was kneeling on the ground, "Oh, does it hurt Kanda? Serves you ri-"

_Whack._

"I'm sorry Lenalee!" Allen said as he backed away from Lenalee's murderous legs, "Please spare me!"

Lavi laughed out loud, and glomped Allen.

"Aww, you're so cute, little buddy," he grinned and sniffed Allen's hair. It smelled like apples and vanilla, "You smell good…"

Allen blushed all the way down his neck and tried to get away from Lavi's grip.

"Lavi you pervert!" he yelled as Lavi sniffed his neck instead of his hair, "Get off!"

"Allen, don't be like that!" Lavi whined, getting a better grip of said boy. He grinned like a little boy who had just gotten his first candy, "I can't believe you're rooming with Yuu. Such a waste~"

Lenalee face palmed and decided to leave the scene.

"Allen, you should go to Bookman. He'll check how your wound his healing. Lavi, just let him go," Lenalee suggested as she walked off from the deck.

Lavi blinked after her and grinned.

"Maybe she's jealous because I adore you, Allen~!" he laughed, ruffling Allen's white hair. Lavi sniffed Allen's neck again, "Shall I escort you to the panda?"

"Whatever you want, Lavi," Allen smiled, hitting Lavi's shoulder, "You're such a pervert, aren't you?" he giggled, taking the hand offered to him. So they went, arm in arm, laughing at each other. Allen was having the best time of his life on this ship, he sure was.

"Oh, we're here," Lavi said, knocking on Bookman's door. After that he opened it cautiously only to be kicked on the forehead.

"Owww… What was that for, you stinking old panda!?" Lavi groaned and leaned against the wall. His head was spinning again. Surely he wasalready used to that, "That was uncalled for!"

"Junior, what have I said about coming inside without permission?" Bookman groaned, rolling his eyes. He narrowed them after he took a good look at Allen, "The wound, huh? Let's see it then. Junior, you stay outside you silly rabbit," Bookman shut the door just when Lavi was about to step inside.

Lavi pinched his nose and went back to the deck. He wanted to see that scar that was going to be on Allen's side.

"Not fair…"

Bookman gestured for Allen to sit and take off his shirt. He examined the wound, which was closing nicely. It had some redness around it, but Bookman didn't take too much concern to it.

"Does it ache?"

"N-no, sir. Sometimes I get a burning sensation, but it's usually when I'm working," Allen said and started to dress again, "Is it a problem, sir?"

"No, I think it's fine," Bookman went to the door, taking in Allen's appearance, "Boy. I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't mess with my grandson so much. He's not going to be free all his life."

Now Allen was more or less confused. What did Bookman mean by that? Allen cleared his throat, trying to keep himself polite.

"E-excuse me? Messing with Lavi? I don't think I understand what you mean."

_'So, Lavi hasn't told him.'_

Bookman sighed and opened the door to the hallway.

"You'll understand," he said and motioned for Allen to leave his sanctuary, "Go on, I have a book to finish."

Allen furrowed his eyebrows as he walked along the hallway.

"Maybe I should get some sleep," he said, letting out a heavy sigh, opening the door to the cabin which he shared with Kanda. Allen collapsed on his not-too-comfortable bed and closed his eyes.

"_Boy. I would really appreciate it if you wouldn't mess with my grandson so much. He's not going to be free all his life."_

What the hell? Really? Allen pinched the bridge of his nose. This was first time someone has said that kind of thing to him.

'_I didn't never even had any friends! How do I know if I mess with someone?'_

Allen pursed his lips. Did this mean that he had to stay away from Lavi? Maybe he should ask Lavi. No, that was not a good idea. Bookman might get angry with him. He really wanted to be friends with Lavi. He was so caring and Allen felt always warm being around him. And not to mention, safe. Even though he was thrown to the shark, Lavi had taken care of him while he was still

"_You'll understand"._

"How the hell I am supposed to understand?" Allen asked the roof. Maybe the roof would answer his question. But no, not a single answer was given to him.

"What are you supposed to understand?" Lavi grinned, leaning on the doorframe. "You sure look like a crime investigator who is trying to solve who is the murderer. So… what's up?"

Allen jumped up a few feet and stared at Lavi, who just stood there.

"Wh-when did you came in?" he stuttered, his blush creeping up his cheeks again, "An-and look what've you done! Scared me half to death and all blood rushing to my cheeks…"

"I just came to pick you up for lunch since I didn't see you in the caboose and Jerry said he hasn't seen you since breakfast. Are you okay?" Lavi asked, taking a few long steps until he was face to face with Allen, who was now standing, "You sure are short," he said, leaning closer to Allen.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just got confused," Allen said, waving his hand, "It's really nothing. And I'm not short. World is just way too big," he said, smiling sadly when he started to think about what Bookman had said.

"Don't give me that look," Lavi said, flicking Allen's forehead and rested his hand on Allen's fragile shoulders, "You can tell me. Did Gramps say something that hurt you? It's not new for him. Don't let it get to you, 'kay?"

Allen nodded.

'_Don't let it get you, huh? It's not about me, it's about you, Lavi,' _he thought, pushing Lavi's hands down.

"You came to pick me up for lunch. This is not something we should be doing if you're hungry."

Lavi looked at Allen very carefully. Something really wasn't right with that boy and he wanted to know right now what was wrong with him.

"Allen," he said, but the said boy just kept babbling about something unnecessary to keep his mind off of the matter, "Allen!"

Allen flinched at Lavi's tone and shut his mouth. He couldn't say anything for a while, but after the painful silence, he decided to speak up.

"It's really not your concern."

Lavi pushed Allen against the wall, gritting his teeth.

"I'm the Captain of this ship and your Captain. If I ask you something, I expect you to give me the answer. How can we trust each other if things come to the worst? An attack?"

Allen blushed at the contact. Lavi being so close to him.

"Lavi. I think this is my own concern. I'd like to be alone."

"Allen!" Lavi almost yelled, pushing his back even harder against wall. He didn't even realize that Allen was in pain, "Just tell me. Please," he whispered and leaned against Allen's body, "I just want to be your friend, Allen. I thought you trusted me enough to tell me if something was off."

Allen wrapped his arm loosely around Lavi and hugged his friend. He felt Lavi's heartbeat against his. His heartbeat was fast. Maybe Lavi was overreacting to this? Allen sighed and let his hands drown in Lavi's red locks. "Bookman said that I should stop messing with you."

Lavi let his hand wander to Allen's waist, thinking about his words about gramps. Oh yeah. "Don't mind him, Allen. I'd like you to stay by my side."

Allen felt blood rush to his cheeks again, as Lavi held him by his waist. "The lunch, Lavi?"

"Yeah, let's go have something to eat."

**x**

"I'm stuffed!" Allen huffed from exhaustion. He still had his mitarashi dango left. Allen eyed those little balls with hungry eyes. Allen took one stick in his slender fingers and popped one of the balls into his mouth.

"Meliwoush~"

Lavi laughed at Allen and his huge appetite.

"You have… crumbles on you cheek," he said laughing and leaned closer to Allen. Lavi took a napkin and wiped the crumbles away, causing Allen to blush from the sudden contact, "That's so cute~"

Kanda rolled his eyes.

"Why am I even sitting with you two?" he grumbled, glaring at Allen who seemed to be pretty embarrassed because of that stupid rabbit, "It's okay to be gay, but seriously, get a room."

Allen's blush deepened if possible and he ate the rest of his mitarashi dango while glaring back at Kanda.

"Yes, I'm gay but Lavi isn't. And I'm not interested in that pervert."

Lavi winced and took the last mitarashi dango, so that Allen didn't notice it immediately.

"That hurt ,Allen," he whined and sniffed, "And for your information, I like both genders. It's about personality. But I like boobs and pus-"

"Too much information Lavi!" Lenalee said and rose from the bench, "I don't think any woman could stand you for long," she joked sweetly at him. Then she leaned to Lavi's ear and whispered something.

Allen furrowed his eyebrows.

"Lenalee! What about me?! I heard you said my name!" he demanded and took his dishes. He followed Lenalee to the Jerry's window, "What did you say?"

Lenalee just giggled and gave her dishes to the chef.

"Well… Let's say that it was something about your feminine looks."

"My feminine looks?" Allen asked bemused. What was that supposed to mean? He looked back at Lavi, who had a blushed all over his face, "You mean… I look like a woman?"

Lenalee pursed her lips in thought, then smirked like the little angel she was.

"Yes, I think you have a very beautiful face and jawline. It makes you a bit feminine, not to mention those big silver pools," she nodded, "Don't you think the same, Jerry?"

"Allen?" Jerry asked and cupped his porcelain cheeks, "Why yes~ He is such an angel sent from the Heaven itself. I'm pretty surprised that the boys have been able to keep their hands off of you~"

Allen scrambled away from Lenalee and Jerry.

"I'm not a girl!" he snapped at them and stomped out of the caboose. It was always like this, everyone thought Allen looked like a girl. He heard it enough when he was living in Port Royal. If he would've looked like a strong sailor, there would've been no problem. He would've never been got into prostitution business, "Fuck."

"Whoa, Allen, calm down," Lavi said, calming his best friend. He followed him to the deck and sighed, "No one's teasing you because of it. I just think that it really suits you. I wouldn't like you this much if you were a muscular macho."

"But it all happened because I look like a fucking woman! Every fucking man wants to fuck me because of this! They can be at ease if they want to hide the fact that they're gay! Because I look like a fucki-" Allen tried to say, but was cut off when Lavi pressed his hand against the angel's mouth.

"Stop cursing will ya?" Lavi moaned and took his hand off when Allen seemed to calm down, "That doesn't suit you. I understand that it triggers bad memories, but you have to understand that it's not a bad trait to have," he tried to explain to Allen who seemed to be on the verge of tears, "Hey… Don't be like that. You should have some more confidence. If someone says that you're hot and cute at the same time, you should be proud. You know, like me?"

When Allen didn't say anything Lavi pursed his lips.

"Things just happens, Allen. It's not about how you look or what you do. It's all about luck. And your luck sucks," he said, grinning like the good friend that he was, "And even if I think you're hot and cute, I'm not trying to fuck your brains out. That's just… sick. I did things like that a couple of years ago, but I grew out of it. What happened to you, is really unfortunate but no one on this ship is going to do anything to you if you don't want to. I'll make sure of it. So raise your damn head when someone compliments you. It makes you feel so much better than thinking 'oh god he wants to fuck my brains out', don't you think?"

Allen let out a small giggle. Lavi was so loveable, he truly was.

"Thanks Lavi," he said and hugged his older friend. Allen buried his face into Lavi's toned chest. Lavi smelled like… sea salt and fresh air. It was just so good of a smell that he could've stayed there forever. But Lavi just had to ruin the mood.

"So who's the pervert now?" he grinned, ruffling Allen's white hair, "It's okay, I know I am hot and I know that you can't stand the power of my sexiness. Just look at my hair, you always start petting it because it's just that sexy. And what about my body? Well, I understand you want to hug it bec- UFFFFF!"

Allen had connected his fist to Lavi's stomach.

"Shaddap and lemme be like this for a sec…" he mumbled and continued his nuzzling, "You just smell so good."

Lavi blushed, but stayed quiet. He petted Allen's white hair, smiling like a happy puppy. These three weeks had been like heaven to Lavi. Allen was so full of some kind of warmth that it engulfed the whole ship. It seemed like everyone had found more happiness since Allen came. Even Kanda had found his teasing target.

"Allen. Will you stay here forever until the day you die?"

Allen lifted his face and stared at Lavi's face.

"You know what Lavi? That sounded… Cliché," he smirked, but nodded anyways, "I'll stay until I get fed up with you and Kanda."

"I think you should let go now. I have to go to the helm. We're going to be at Dolphin Bay soon," Lavi said and tried to pry Allen's hands off of him, "Alleeeen? Are you dead or something?" he asked and cupped Allen's cheeks with his hands. "Wh-why are you crying!?" he screamed like a girl, "What did I do?!"

Allen just smiled and wiped his tears away.

"I'm just happy, that's all. I feel alive."

"Now I'll return the cliché to you, Allen. That was so cliché that I'm going to puke," Lavi joked and dragged Allen to the helm with him, "But I'm so glad that you're happy."

The white haired boy laughed and sat on the railing, in front of Lavi.

"Dolphin bay, huh?" he smiled and glanced at the islands, "How long are we going to be there?"

"As long as you want," Lavi answered and took hold of the helm. He stared at Allen's angelic smile and white hair which was dancing with the wind, in the evening sun. "You're beautiful, Allen."

"Shut up you handsome rabbit", Allen giggled and kicked Lavi's shin gently, "Do you think everyone on this ship is as happy as I am?" he asked Lavi.

"That is a weird question, Allen. But I think you're one of the happiest right now. Because the happiness you feel, is quite a new emotion for you, am I wrong?" Lavi asked from Allen, looking at the setting sun on the horizon.

"Last time I was happy… Was when Mana adopted me," Allen told Lavi and smiled, "It was the happiest time of my life," he pushed some white locks away from his eyes which were now shimmering a mercury color, thanks to the evening sun, "I love being here, Lavi."

Lavi was more or less enchanted by Allen's beautiful eyes. He heard what the boy said, but wasn't really paying attention.

"I love that you're here," Lavi murmured in thought and then saw Allen smiling at him amused.

"Lavi? Are okay?" Allen giggled at Lavi's dreamy look, "Watch out, you're going to drool," he teased and poked Lavi's shin again with his foot.

Lavi shook his head.

"No… I think I'll need resuscitation soon," he mumbled when his heart picked up some speed when Allen came closer, "You're making me feel so weird."

Allen touched Lavi's forehead.

"Are you feverish or are my hands just cold?" he wondered to himself, but was soon answered when Lavi slapped himself on the cheek, "Lavi? What the hell are you doing?"

"I think I needed a wakeup call," Lavi answered to Allen and turned his gaze away from the boy.

'_Oh my fucking god. I need some serious help. I'm drooling over a little guy!' _Lavi's mind screamed in realization.

"You should get some sleep. We'll be at the bay by morning."

"I'll pass," Allen smiled and stood beside Lavi. "I want to see what the morning looks like over the Caribbean."

Lavi was almost gaping when Allen said that. He really needed some time alone to get his mind off the bean sprout but no, now Allen was going to spend the whole frigging night with him.

'_Is that why I like being around Allen? He is just so happy that it kind of affects me too… but I think he is really attractive and he's even more attractive than he was three weeks ago. I need to get my act together or I'll scare him away.'_

"Lavi? Are you really okay? You look like you're going to pass out. Have you slept enough?" Allen's concern started to pick up when Lavi didn't say anything to him for a while, "I can take care of the helm if you'd like to get some sleep."

"Thanks Allen, I just might do that," Lavi said and let Allen step ip to his place, "Just call me if something is wrong. I'll come back in few hours," he laughed and hurried to his cabin.

'_Maybe I need some release…'_

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Allen wondered and scratched his head.

'_And here I thought I could have a chance with Lavi.'_

**x**

**I hate this chapter sooooo much. I rewrote this like three times and I'm still not happy with this. I hope this suits your tastes. owo"**

**Oh yeah and Allen doesn't have his deformed hand yet if someone was wondering.**

**And yes, I'll play with the Innocence differently.**

**No, I haven't forgotten Tyki and his crew even though there was a quite big time skip.**

**Reviews are most welcome and they keep me rolling. uwu**


	3. The Dolphin Bay

**The song used in this chapter is acoustic version of "Pierrot".**

**Explanation:**

"_The song lyrics"_

"_**When someone says something in the song"**_

**x**

"Isn't that the Black Exorcist, Tyki?" Road asked, pointing at the ship with her telescope which was a dark blue color, with golden strings attached to it. "It's Allen! Tyki! It's Allen!" Road screamed when she took a better look at the ship with her telescope.

"Take it easy, Road," Tyki smirked, snatching the telescope from the little girl's tanned hands. The Portuguese man looked through the telescope, only to see his little kitten at the helm of the Black Exorcist.

"It seems like everyone else is sleeping," he wondered and took a look at the captain's cabin, "And the capt– Not for your pure ears, Road," Tyki murmured, cocking his eyebrow. Didn't Allen tell Lavi about the prostitution? Why would he use his own hand if he has a prostitute on board? That didn't make any sense to Tyki.

"So, he's having sex with someone? Do you really think I don't know anything at all?" Road whined at her uncle, taking the telescope by force, "Screw you," she hissed and took a good look at the captain's cabin, "Oh… He's got a big one."

**x**

Allen yawned, looking around at the dark sea. His only company was an oil lamp on the railing. The sea was so quiet, it seemed like the whole world was sleeping at that moment. There was still this weird throbbing at the back of his head. It felt like someone was watching him from the distance. Allen shivered from the cold, reaching his hand towards Lavi's jacket. Lavi had left it for Allen after all. When he reached for the jacket he felt something brush against his fingers and it was most definitely not the fabric of the jacket. The boy froze, and he didn't dare to move.

'_Am I really that tired that I'm hallucinating?'_

Allen felt his breath hitch when a black butterfly landed on his shoulder. It had purple glow around the wings and the rest of it's body. It was pretty big compared to the ones he had seen, and somehow Allen realized that it wasn't a normal butterfly and it was really dangerous.

"Shush~ Go away", he hisses as he tried to get rid of the scary looking butterfly.

"_Refusal"_

Allen fell to his knees. That voice…! He looked around carefully but didn't see the man he was looking for. Allen thought he was going to pass out from the lack of oxygen. He also felt pressure against his body, as if something was trying to crush him into little pieces. "S-stop… Wh-who… Ever you… are…" Allen coughed. He was in pain. He couldn't breathe and he couldn't move either. Then he saw a figure right in front of him, a black butterfly on their fingers. "Ty…ki…"

Tyki knelt in front of Allen and took hold of his chin. "We meet again, kitten," he smirked at his little prostitute. "You look so good. I think that regular food can do miracles," Tyki said, as he travelled his hand around Allen's small body, "Don't worry, I'll still let you have some fun with your… 'friends', but don't think it'll last long."

Allen stared straight into Tyki's golden eyes, trying not to spit on that man. Not that he could do it anyways in the situation he was having right now. His mind was already going blank, when suddenly he was able to breathe. Allen took in a little bit too much oxygen in one gulp, causing some rough coughing and wheezing.

"Fuck you, Tyki!"

"Allen? Are you okay?" a feminine voice asked from below the deck. The two of them were able to hear heels hitting the wooden floor.

Tyki smirked and walked over the railing. "Road, the Door please. Kitten, we'll meet again," the Portuguese man promised, stepping through a door that had appeared right in front of him, "See you~"

Allen started blankly ahead, only to be shaken by the shoulder. He flinched and saw the worried face of his female friend.

"Lenalee…?"

"Are you alright?" Lenalee asked again, since Allen wasn't really answering her question earlier. Lenalee was positive she had heard someone speak. "Are you tired?"

"I think… I'm going to get some sleep," Allen wheezed, trying to stand up from his position, "Shit…"

"I'll help you, okay?"

"Thanks, Lenalee."

**x**

"I wonder what happened last night," Lenalee pondered as she stood beside her red headed captain, "It was like he had seen ghost. He couldn't even stand on his own feet! He didn't even tell me if he was okay!"

"Lenalee, calm down," Lavi sighed heavily, looking at Komui's little sister with tired look. He was having nightmares last night so he hadn't had a very good sleep, "I'm sure Allen is okay. Maybe he was just tired? He isn't used to controlling the ship all alone after all."

"Maybe you're right," Lenalee finally giving up on Lavi. She had wondered this for hours already and she knew Lavi was becoming annoyed at her, which was pretty rare. "Are _you_ okay? You've been a bit grumpy and when I talked about Allen, you seemed a bit stiff. Did something happen?"

"No, everything is fine."

"Lav –"

"Shut the fuck up, Lenalee!"

Lenalee's eyes widened at Lavi's shout, making her wonder what had really happened.

"Y-yes, sir!" she stuttered, "I'm very sorry for my… bad mouth."

"It's not your fault," Lavi sighed, calming, "I had as rough a night as Allen had. It seemed like… I was seeing Allen's past in my dreams and it was so sick and disgusting. I just hope we get to the Dolphin Bay as soon as we can. It helps me to forget for a while."

"That's weird. Kanda and I had dreams about Allen too," Lenalee said after Lavi mentioned to her about his dream, "You don't have to go into details or anything. I just saw him playing football with an Indian boy."

"Even Kanda?" Lavi gaped with surprise. What if the whole crew had dreamed about that white-haired boy? No, that would be creepy and not possible. Even this was a miracle. "So… an Indian boy, huh?" Lavi murmured as his mind wandered back to the dream he had last night.

**x**

"_Hey! Let me have some too!" a boy with white hair cried, as some boys bigger than him took his breakfast plate away, "You're such a meanie!"_

"_Oh come on, Crybaby! You're so small that you don't need any breakfast. Just fuck off!" one of the bullies laughed, kicking the little boy so that he slammed into the wall. The bully laughed as he finished the breakfast which belonged to boy called 'crybaby'._

"_Are you alright?" a man kneeled beside the 'crybaby' and smiled gently. He gently brushed some tears from the boy's face._

_"What's your name?"_

"_Crybaby."_

"_I think that's a cute name, but I don't think it suits you. My name is Mana Walker."_

"_Why is it Walker?" Crybaby sniffed, wiping tears from his eyes. His back hurt so much from the impact. He wondered why anyone would have a surname like that. It was just stupid._

"_Why do you ask?" Mana smiled, helping Crybaby to stand on his own feet, "I think it suits me very well, but you'll learn about it soon. What would you like your name to be?"_

"_I don't know…"_

"_Well… My dog just passed away and I really miss him. __He was called Allen. Do you like that name?"_

"_Y-yes. It's very nice and easy to remember. Why do you want to name me?"_

"_Because we will now be father and son, Allen Walker."_

Lavi furrowed his eyebrows. The dream still continued, but it was so full of details. Lavi wasn't sure if that was truly the real past of his crew mate. He closed his eyes, continuing towards the next scene on his mind.

"_Hey Mana?" Allen smiled brightly. The boy had grown to be much healthier than he had been in the orphanage, "I think we should do some cool performance together! You know? Lots of excitement, fire, lions, apes an-"_

_Mana interrupted Allen with a merry laugh. "Allen, you know that you're bit too young to have lions or fire around you. Also you still have a safety net when you do acrobatics on the rope. Just calm down, okay?"_

"_O-okay," Allen blushed, giggling to himself. He tilted his head to the side, looking forward again, "Why do we always walk?"_

"_I told you, Allen. We must always keep walking, no matter what happens. You must remember that too," Mana smiled, while greeting a foreign man with a sly smile on his face, "It seems there are a lot of foreigners today."_

"_You think so?" Allen wondered, glancing back at the man, "He's following us."_

"_Just keep walking, Allen."_

"_But it's weird. Heeey, why're you following us? Do you need directi-"_

"_Allen, get down!"_

_Blood splashed all around the streets and Allen felt a heavy body push him down. The boy opened his bluish-grey eyes, only to see his foster fother lying on top of him, blood on his clothes. "M-Mana? Hey, Mana…"_

"_Allen…" Mana coughed, looking at his son with a smile on his face, "Run."_

_Allen's eyes widened and the last thing he saw was some of Mana's brains splashing onto his face. He closed his eyes, and before he knew what happened he was pulled up by his armpits. "You'll come with us. Hey, Tyki! Clean up the mess."_

**x**

Was that partly a lie what Allen had told him? Lavi sighed heavily, trying to find a good reason for his dream about Allen. Not to mention one violent dream so full of pain. The red-haired boy sighed, remembering the next scene on his mind. He lifted his hand on his lips. _I'm going to puke._

"Lavi? Are you alright?" Lenalee asked, rubbing Lavi's shoulder, "You've been staring off into the distance for quite a while now."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking," Lavi said, a care-free smile on his face. He couldn't believe that Allen had lost his virginity so young. If the dream was really true, Allen was more hurt than he would've ever thought.

**x**

"_Hey Kitten, you just have to give a little bit more access to your hole and you'll be just fine."_

"_But it hurts! Stop it!"_

_A man named Tyki thrust himself inside Allen's little hole, and it 'accidentally' ripped a little more than was needed._

_"Oops."_

_Allen cried. He was in pain._

**x**

"What kind of dream was it, Lenalee? Playing football with an Indian boy?" Lavi asked Lenalee. He was now interested in this, more than he should've been. If that really meant these were pieces of Allen's past…

"I don't remember his name…" Lenalee murmured and closed her eyes, "I remember that Allen had brown hair back then, as he told about it. Trauma, he said. Then I saw this older man with a top hat, laughing at the boys. Allen seemed very happy, and the two of them were just kicking a football around."

Lavi tried to recall his dream again. Nope, there wasn't any indian boy in his dream.

"Where's Kanda?"

"I think I saw him in the caboose. I can take care of the helm," Lenalee smiled, waving at Lavi who already had already rushed under the deck, "Boys."

"YUUUUUUU!" Lavi yelled as he jumped to his friend's neck with a wide grin. "I heard you had a dream about Allen~ Can you tell me about it?!"

"Fuck off, rabbit. It's not like it was a pleasant dream!" Kanda yelled at Lavi, shoving him off of his neck and backwards.

"But I really need to know~! Neee Yuuuu~ Please~!" Lavi whined, trying to steal his soba too. Maybe he could threaten to eat the soba if Kanda didn't tell him? What a good plan.

"Touch my soba, and you will not have your hand anymore."

"Tell. Me. About. It."

Kanda sighed, not really amused about this. Lavi was now being serious and Kanda didn't want to tell what kind of dream he had. "The dream just proves how fake that beansprout is. Get over it, Lavi."

"Now."

**x**

"_Tyki! Can you tell me how to play poker? Please?" Allen whined at the Portuguese man, who just shoved Allen off of him, kicking him back to the floor._

"_Don't be ridiculous, boy. When do you think you'll have any time to play? You've got customers alright? They like little boys like you. We're going to take all the money we can get from you so go to your room already and fuck some men, okay?"_

_Allen pursed his pale lips and sniffed._

_"You're so mean…"_

_Tyki's eyes started to sofen a little. The sight was just so pathetic. "Fine, but I'm only going to do this once and you don't play poker when you don't have time."_

**x**

"It's just a dream, you know," Kanda sighed, not really wanting to tell anything more about the dream. It was just so sick, that even Kanda had hard-time sucking it up, "I also saw how his scar was made. The pentacle, I mean. The thing on his face."

Lavi sighed quietly. It seemed like he had seen most of Allen's past, Kanda a bit more and Lenalee a small portion. What about the others? But Allen hadn't really been in touch with any of the others. Lavi didn't dare to question Allen's past if it really was just a dream and nothing more.

"Thanks anyway, Yuu. Tell me the rest of it sometime soon, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Look, bean sprout woke up."

Lavi turned his head towards the boy who was standing behind him, smiling like an angel. He had finally woke up, but had forgot to comb his hair apparently. Lavi chuckled.

"Good morning Allen," he smiled, ruffling Allen's white mop of hair. "Did ya have good sleep?"

"Yeah…" Allen murmured, taking a seat with his tray. It didn't really have.. that much food on it. "What're you two looking at?"

"Are you okay?" Lavi asked and touched Allen's forehead. It felt the normal temperature, but the amount of food was alarming enough.

Allen's face seemed to darken a little.

"I'm not hungry", he told Lavi, smiling again like nothing had ever happened. Allen tensed when Lavi sat next to him, staring at his grey eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Allen furrowed his eyebrows, thinking about last night.

"No… I think it was just a bad dream. You know… I dreamed that Tyki came to the ship and used some weird magic trick to stop my breathing."

Kanda scoffed. "Yeah, that was just a dream, beansprout. You're pretty paranoid about this Tyki. You should stop."

"Kanda, are you concerned about me?" Allen smirked darkly at his friend. Or something inbetween rival and friend.

"Hey… Say that again and I'll –"

"Calm down. We were talking about Allen's dream, not about your opinion, Yuu," Lavi sighed, directing Allen's gaze to him again, "So… Did anything else happen in that dream of yours?"

"He said… he'd come to take me away from you," Allen whispered. He didn't even know any more if it was true, or was it really just a dream, "Shit…" he sniffed, trying to hold back his tears.

Lavi's eyes widened in shock when Allen started to cry. "Hey… Don't cry, okay? Nothing bad has happened, right Yuu?" he tried to get his friend agree with him, but Kanda just left without saying a word. "Allen…"

Allen cried silently.

"I'm so sorry," he said, only to be embraced tightly by none other than the captain of the Black Exorcist. "Lavi…"

"Shhh," Lavi shushed, patting Allen's small back, "You can always cry in front of me. It's nothing to be ashamed of, and I really understand that Tyki has left you huge scars…"

"What do you understand, Lavi?" Allen wheezed from the warmth of his chest, "You don't know anything about my past. Nothing!"

Lavi was about to tell Allen about his dream, but managed to keep his mouth shut.

"Well… it's not hard to see how you reacted about Tyki taking you away… Why don't you tell me about your past?" he whispered gently, drawing soothing circles on Allen's spine. Allen seemed to relax a little.

"I don't think it's a good idea. I don't want you to look at me like I'm a piece of trash. It has happened, really. Why are you so keen on it suddenly? You left me alone for three whole weeks about my past and now you bring it up? After having a bad dream? Do you really pity me that much?"

"No, Allen. It's not like that," Lavi said, wiping Allen's tears away. He didn't know what he should tell Allen, "I was just worried because you teared up like that."

Allen blinked bemused. Was Lavi really just worried? Or did he want to find Allen's weak spot? Allen shook his head. No, he couldn't think like that. Of course Lavi was genuinely worried! The boy sighed heavily, and kissed Lavi's cheek. "Thanks."

"I'm always there or here for you, my prince~" Lavi grinned, motioning for Allen to eat his breakfast, "We should be at Dolphin Bay soon!"

**x**

"We made it to Dolphin Bay!" Lavi grinned happily, guiding Allen along the white sand, "We have to circle the island. The dolphins are at the other side, but the ship can't go there. Are you following us~?" " he finally asked the crew, which was lazily following their captain. Not all of them were there though, some of them had to stay behind on the ship.

"Lavi… You should calm down a little!" Lenalee smiled, whacking Lavi's head with a guitar. Lavi had some kind of obsession with the guitar and wanted to play it in the evening. Lenalee's face softened when she saw Allen smiling so brightly it could reach the sun itself.

"Lenalee!" Allen smiled, pulling Lavi away from her, "I'm as excited as Lavi is. Let us have some fun, please~?"

Lenalee was surprised by Allen's actions, but giggled afterwards. She walked up to their last camping site and let the guitar lean on one of the logs that they had placed there a few months ago.

Lavi smiled widely, hugging Allen like his life depended on it. "You can go in the water if you'd like. You don't have to swim far. The dolphins will come to you."

Allen blushed a little, trying not to fidget too much. "Uh… Lavi? Can you come with me? I'm actuall –"

"Afraid? No worries, I can come with you," Lavi grinned and winked at Allen who seemed to blush even more, "Just wait a second okay? I'll go do a striptease for Lenalee!"

Allen hung his head low as Lavi went to do his striptease to a giggling Lenalee. Damn that girl. Allen pursed his lips and sat on the hot sand. He almost thought Lavi had taken an interest in him, but no. Now he was giving a show to a girl who had a big brother with huge sister complex. It was miracle that Komui hadn't come to the beach. Not to mention, Lenalee was pretty hot and all…

Allen Walker was jealous.

"Ready to go, Allen?" Lavi smiled in his underwear, "Oh no, you're still dressed…"

Allen blushed, standing up quickly.

"Sorry, I was… thinking!" he smiled at Lavi, wondering if he was really too easy to read at times.

Once his clothes were abandoned on the shore, both boys started to run towards the sea.

Lavi grabbed Allen in his arms, throwing him deeper.

"I couldn't resist~!"

Allen came to the surface, looking at Lavi who was laughing his ass off. "Yeah, 'couldn't resist', my ass!" he laughed, throwing salty water towards Lavi.

Lavi stopped Allen by grabbing his wrists.

"Calm down," he smiled, pointing at the pod of dolphins, "Let them touch you. Here, I'll show you," Lavi smiled as one of the dolphins came to him and poked his hand. "They're going to investigate you, but don't panic. They won't bite you."

Allen nodded, remembering how the shark had almost bitten all of his ribs in one bite. He reached out and gently touched a dolphins forehead. It actually felt quite warm and had smooth skin. It was almost like touching velvet.

"Wow…"

"Can you feel it?" Lavi asked from Allen, taking a hold of the dolphin's fin, "The energy flowing around us."

"Y-yeah… It feels kind of awesome," Allen smiled, continuing to pet the smooth skin.

"Try riding it."

"What?"

"Just grab the fin, and they'll do the rest. It's not like it's their first time. Tourists come here often too," Lavi grinned at Allen, who took a firm hold of his dolphin's fin, "Take a deep breath."

"What do you mean?"

Soon both the boys were under the surface, going around the island at high speed. Allen didn't dare to close his eyes even though the salty water was stinging his eyes. Everything looked so beautiful and magical. Suddenly he took a deep breath, gulping a huge amount of water. The dolphin came to the surface, making sure that Allen could cough and take a good amount of air to his lungs.

"Allen! You aren't supposed to breath under the water!" Lavi scolded when his dolphin came up next to them, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Allen smiled, sighing heavily, he felt so relaxed as he listened to the heartbeat coming from dolphin, "I think he understands me."

"Want to get something to eat?"

"I'll stay here a little longer. You can go if you'd like."

Lavi smiled, starting to listen to his dolphin's heartbeat too.

"Nah, I feel like spending time with you."

Allen kept his goofy smile on his lips, feeling so happy right now. Lavi had really done something like this just for him and now wanted to spend some time with him.

"What's your relationship with Lenalee?" he asked, curious.

"Why'd you ask?"

"Just wondering…"

Lavi came closer to Allen, poking his forehead.

"Are you jealous~?" the rabbit asked, re-directing his pokes to Allen's cheek, "Wow, you really do have soft cheeks."

"Don't change the subject~" Allen laughed nervously when Lavi had asked about him being jealous. "And me? Jealous? Never. I just wondered if it was worth gossiping to Komui…"

"Allen you stingy~!" Lavi moaned at his friend, tilting his head. He grinned happily at Allen, "No, seriously. There's nothing between us. It's just entertainment. Lenalee is nice and all, but I don't have the hots for her. Besides I think that Lenalady likes Yuu anyways."

"Eeeh~?" Allen wondered, moving closer to Lavi, with his new friend, "Kanda and Lenalee? Well… Kanda did look like he could kill you when you were doing your… not so hot striptease. You know, I can do lot better than you."

"Are you mocking me, Mr. So-genius-that-I-can-even-do-a-striptease?"

"That hurt, Lavi. It really did."

Lavi made a 'o' with his mouth. Shit, he had just said it but well… How to fix this, really?

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I kinda… forgot."

"That's okay", Allen said, letting his dolphin go to have some fun with its own friends, "I'm going to grab some lunch."

Lavi blinked, following Allen's movements soon after.

'_I blew it.'_

**x**

Allen lay on a comfortable blanket, listening to Lavi play his guitar. He was more than tired, but was still enthusiastic to see the sunset again. Lavi had promised to show him a perfect place for it.

"Allen? Are you asleep?" Lenalee asked her friend and sitting next to him, "Did you have fun out there?"

Allen opened his big eyes, looking up at Lenalee's smiling face.

"Yeah… I've never felt so much happiness in one go, and I got to share it with Lavi… It was incredible."

Lenalee started to lay beside Allen, thinking about his answer.

"Lavi said he blew something," she told Allen with a softer, sadder tone, "Did he say something weird to you or…?"

"No!" Allen yelped in surprise which even Lavi heard, causing him to stop his playing. He blushed at the sudden stares from everyone on the shore, "I… Uh…" Allen stuttered, turning his gaze back to his dark red blanket. How did he always managed to do this?

Lenalee giggled and ruffled the mop of white hair.

"It's okay Allen. You can tell me later. Just so you know…" she smiled, leaning to Allen's ear, "Don't get his hopes up if you don't like him."

"Wha –?"

"I have to go Allen!" Lenalee smiled and stood up from her position, "Big brother asked me to come before the sunset, so I'll be going now. Have fun with Lavi~!"

"Wait, Lenalee!" Allen moaned after her.

'_I am not getting his hopes up! He's the one doing it anyways!'_Allen growled to himself, standing up to sit next to Lavi.

"Don't worry about what you said, really. I'm over it already," he said, settling himself down next to Lavi.

Lavi smiled gently at Allen.

"Have you ever played guitar? I can show you if you'd like," he offered to Allen, who shook his head in response.

"I don't think guitar is my thing," Allen laughed, taking a good look at Lavi's emerald eye, "How did you lose your eye?"

"If you don't tell me about your past, I won't tell you about my eyepatch," Lavi grinned, scratching his head while he thought about what to say next, "I don't think it's as sensitive as your story, but it's not something I like to talk about."

Allen blinked in confusion. Why did he have to tell Lavi about his past anyway? He sighed.

"I heard Lenalee say something that you, her and Kanda dreamt about," Allen murmured, furrowing his eyebrows, "I don't really know what you saw, but what Lenalee saw was already pretty alarming. I really hope it's just coincidence but…"

"I didn't tell anyone what I saw," Lavi whispered to Allen, playing a few notes while he thought about the dream he had seen, "I don't know how but… The three of us saw a dream about when you were just a little kid. I don't really want to say it, but it was like a nightmare, Allen."

Allen's eyes softened at the sad tone in Lavi's voice. He gently patted his arm, trying to comfort the older male a little.

"Can you tell me… what you saw? It would really help me to know what you saw and if it's true or not."

Lavi put down his guitar and took ahold of Allen's hand. "Well it all begun when…"

**x**

When Lavi finished, Allen just sat there in shock. He breathed heavily, trying to figure out why Lavi had seen all of the sick dreams. Why? Why did he even have a dream about his past?

"It's okay, Lavi. You understand now… At least something about me. But I really would've preferred to tell you by myself when the time was right."

"I know, Allen," Lavi murmured, looking at the sea which was slowly turning a deep orange with the setting sun, "Come on, I've got something to show you," he smiled, taking Allen's hand and the guitar.

After a small walk, they finally arrived at their destination. It was a high cliff and it took some effort for the two boys to get there. Lavi pulled Allen forward, sitting himself down on the edge, looking at the sea with a wide smile. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

Allen gaped at the sight. He saw the ship at the shore, but it looked so small from there. He heard the seagulls singing their song and saw the sky opening in front of him. It had so many colors in it; violet, orange, red, some blue and yellow. "Ye-yeah… It's beautiful."

"_It's okay, it's okay. I, playing the fool,_

_am merely a nameless clown in this small circus."_

Allen turned his gaze back to Lavi, who had started to sing and play a song, which was most definitely directed to him. Especially for Allen. He sat next to Lavi, listening to every word he said, and every note he played.

"_As I try to balance_

_on a ball as round as the moon,_

_it is simply my job_

_to make conspicuous falls and be laughed at."_

Lavi smiled at Allen, trying hard to concentrate on playing the guitar he loved so much. He had planned on doing this ever since he heard that Allen used to be part of the circus.

"_But I saw you crying in the audience._

_Please do not put on such a sad face._

_Taking notice of your tears unknown to your dad or mom,_

_I felt that it was my duty to wipe them for you"_

Allen was about to say something to Lavi, but Lavi interrupted him with shaking his head. Then Allen listened, looking away from the man he had started to fall in love with.

'_Shit.'_

_"__**It's okay, it's okay. It doesn't hurt me at all.**_

_**You should just keep on laughing for me."**_

_It's okay, it's okay. I, making clumsy falls,_

_am merely a clown balancing on a ball in this small circus._

_You, refusing to stop weeping, said:_

_**"You are lying, and that makes me sad."**_

_**"I did not tell you one single lie."**_

_As soon as I said that, you started crying again."_

Lavi started to play the instrumental break, finally ready to say something to Allen while he played. "It's for you, Allen. I think you understand what I'm trying to tell you."

Allen opened his mouth to say something, but Lavi just smiled at him.

"You don't have to say anything at all."

_**"Show me your unpainted real face hidden under your mask,**_

_**which you don't normally show to the audience.**_

_**To feel pain when you get hurt, or to weep when you feel agonized,**_

_**that kind of natural emotion is nothing to be embarrassed about.**_

_**It's okay, it's okay. Don't worry if you can't put on a good smile,**_

_**just please do not lie about it again.**_

_**It's okay, it's okay. You don't have to bear it alone,**_

_**for I will cry together with you."**_

Allen felt something hot trail along his cheeks. He really had… lied to Lavi about himself and kept everyone away from him, not letting anyone get too close to him. He already thought the song would end there, but it continued for a few more lines.

"_It's okay, it's okay. You have found for me_

_my real face which I seem to have forgotten._

_"It's okay, it's okay." It was like a magic charm._

_Look, the liar clown has disappeared!"_

Lavi set down his guitar when the song ended. He leaned closer to Allen wiping away his tears.

"I'm glad, Allen; that you had planned to tell me about your past when the time was right. And you didn't deny what happened in the dream," he whispered, placing his forehead against Allen's, "Thank you, Allen."

Allen blushed and his tears stopped with Lavi's face so close to his own. He felt his heartbeat racing in his chest, and he moved his lips to say something.

"I didn't catch that, Allen."

"Kiss me."

"What?" Lavi almost choked on his spit when Allen actually ordered him to share a kiss with him. After the initial shock, Lavi's cheeks started to heat up too. He leaned closer to Allen, placing his lips to Allen's. The kiss was soft and gentle, and didn't have anything passionate about it. It was just like letting one of them feel something from the other.

Allen raised his hand to Lavi's toned, and not to mention, bare chest which was bathed in the last dying rays of the sun. He could feel Lavi's quickened heartbeat. As Lavi started to pull away, Allen found himself a little dizzy.

"La-Lavi… I…"

"It's okay," Lavi said, smiling at Allen. Maybe he had understood something a bit wrong between them. It was just a kiss, nothing more, "It doesn't have to be anything else than just a kiss."

"Let me speak you damn rabbit!" Allen yelled at Lavi, almost slapping his cheek in frustration. He hung his head low, thinking about what he should say, "I don't know about my feelings towards you… But I really like you, a lot. Three weeks is a bit too short a time to say if I'd really love you and I don't want to hurt you if I don't love you and… Wait, I didn't say you'd love me but I just had to empty my head of these thoughts! Oh god, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore…"

"Calm down, Allen," Lavi grinned, patting Allen's back cheerfully, "You don't have to know your feelings immediately. Just tell me when you're up to it," he said, planting a small kiss on Allen's cheek, "I don't want to say such things either… Or… More like I can't say."

"You… Can't say?" Allen asked in confusion, then he realized what he meant, "Bookman…?"

"Yeah," Lavi said quietly, "I can tell he saw all this and he heard all I said to you, but…" he whispered sniffing Allen's hair which smelled salty, "I think we should get washed~"

Allen blushed at Lavi's words which contained 'we'. He really thought it a bit more than just going alone to the bath.

"Yeah… Well… You can go first. I think I'll stay and watch the sky for a little longer," Allen smiled at Lavi who didn't seem to buy it.

"I want to go to the bath with you, Alleeeeen~"

"Sheesh, Lavi!" Allen moaned when the other was already grabbing his waist with his arms. He had never taken a bath with anyone. Not even Mana! Mana would just help him. But Lavi had this weird thing where you couldn't say no, once he has something requested.

"Fine," he sighed, smiling.

"Yayyy~!" Lavi yelled and scooped Allen up into his arms, "I'll carry you and my beloved guitar!" he smiled as he started to walk down from the cliff. It proved some what difficult with Allen yelling from embarrassment and the cliff being a bit too abrupt. Once they were safe on their own two feet they started to walk towards the ship.

"Want to sleep next to me? I know that Yuu isn't the best roommate."

Allen poked Lavi's ribs with his elbow, giving Lavi his most angelic smile he could ever manage to do.

"I would be really glad if I'd get to sleep with you, Captain!"

**x**

Lenalee sat next to Allen at the canteen, poking his red cheek with her finger. "What happened at the cliff~? Lavi seemed to be walking on the air and you're flushed!" she beamed, smiling happily, "And you're eating much more than you normally do!"

"We-well, the food is great and I haven't eaten much today… A-and well, I'm pale so maybe I've got sunburns! The sun was pretty hot today! A-and maybe Lavi is just being… Lavi!" Allen yelped trying to defend his own love life a little from Lenalee who was a bit too interested in it.

"Come on Allen!" Lenalee whined, taking two of his mitarashi dango from his plate, "I won't let you have these until you tell me what happened!" she demanded with sweet voice, "And if you don't tell me even with the help of the dango, I'll tell my brother that you were harassing me."

"Okay! I give up!" Allen cried, snatching his dango back from Lenalee, "You're so mean."

"I know. So tell me about it now."

"Well…" Allen murmured nibbling at a slice of bread. What should he say? He glanced around; no Bookman in sight, "He sang for me and we kissed."

"Oh my god, Allen!" Lenalee cried out and hugged her friend tightly, "Are you together now or what?"

"We didn't really promise each other anything," Allen answered simply. He wasn't the one to tell about Bookman, who didn't seem to approve that Lavi could fall in love with someone.

"Is that so?" Lenalee muttered, becoming lost in her own thoughts, "Well, I'm still glad you two finally started to realize your feelings. It was so frustrating to look at! Even Kanda said that, 'Those fags should get together already', it's pretty alarming."

"Fa-fags?" Allen choked on his bread, blinking at Lenalee, "Well… I guess it's like that…" he smiled a little. Yes, fags. Allen chuckled from amusement. It was so Kanda-like to say that. "But you can't –"

"Tell Bookman, yeah yeah," Lenalee smiled and stood up from the chair, "You can trust me. It'll be our secret. Now, get to the bath. Have fun in there~"

"Lenalee!"

**x**

The boy with red hair sat opposite to the white-haired boy as both of them were currently bathing in the same bathtub. "So… Lenalee knows?"

"She threatened me with Komui and taking my dango," Allen sighed heavily, leaning his head against the edge of the bathtub, "It was such a serious threat that I couldn't fight back."

"I feel for you, Allen," Lavi grinned at Allen, who seemed to be a bit too depressed for his own good. The older boy move up, looming over Allen, feeling the boy's naked body against his own, "Don't feel bad about that… I would've done the same," he huskily whispered into Allen's ear, making the boy shudder under him.

"La-Lavi…" Allen gasped, closing his eyes. This wasn't good at all. It felt good, but he wasn't ready for this. He didn't want it to be anything like with customers. Allen pushed Lavi away from him gently and crawled out of the tub.

"I'm sorry Lavi. I can't do this yet," he whispered, wrapping a towel around his body, "I'm really sorry."

Lavi also climbed out of the tub, wrapping a towel around his waist. His hair was glued to his face and dripping water.

"Allen, I understand. I was a bit tactless," he said, hugging Allen from the back, "If someone should be sorry, it's me," Lavi said, kissing Allen's neck gently, "Let's go to the cabin, okay? I'll let you loan something from my wardrobe so you don't have to go to your room."

The boys walked along the hallway, towards Lavi's cabin. They weren't expecting to run into Bookman.

"Ah… Bookman," Allen gasped, blushing slightly, "G-good evening, Sir!"

"Yo Gramps. What's up?" Lavi waved at his grandfather, who landed a well aimed kick at Lavi's stomach, "What was that for?!" he gasped.

Allen rushed to Lavi's side, making sure his towel was still wrapped tightly around his fragile body. "Bookman! I don't think you should hurt Lavi! He hasn't done anything wrong!"

"Shut your mouth young man! Go to the cabin and wait. I have to talk with Lavi, alone," Bookman ordered to Allen, who didn't comply, "NOW!"

Allen bit his lower lip, and left Lavi's side. He looked over his shoulder glancing at Lavi's saddened face, before closing the door behind him and sitting on the bed. What had he done to ruin Lavi's life?

"Lavi... You're messing up for good," Bookman grumbled at Lavi, who leaned against the wall, "You can't go falling in love with Allen Walker. I told you that we can go out to the sea, but you won't get attached to anyone. You will continue as the next bookman when the time is right and I will not have picking up extra baggage."

"Allen is not baggage!" Lavi growled at Bookman, who seemed to get more angry with Lavi, "I like Allen and you can't change that! The fuck with your Bookman rules!"

"Mind your language, Lavi!" Bookman warned him, stepping closer, "If I can't get the message through to you, it will get through to Allen."

"Leave Allen alone, you stingy panda!"

"Lavi! Shut your trap and listen to me. We made a promise. You will continue as the next Bookman after we have found the Innocence. Do you understand?"

Lavi closed his eyes in desperation. He would have to explain this to Allen somehow.

"Whatever," he said quietly walking to his door, "Just leave Allen out of this."

Bookman glanced at Lavi with sharp look in his eyes.

"You are not the one who should order me around, _Deak._"

Lavi's eyes widened in shock as he clutched the doorknob with his hand. He didn't dare to say anything to Bookman. That had cut him deep. Lavi opened to door and closed it after him. He looked at Allen who looked as hurt as he did.

"I'm sorry, Allen."

"I know," Allen glanced at his friend, smiling at Lavi. His voice was hurt, but at the same time concerned, "I'm getting cold."

"Oh yeah… The clothes," Lavi murmured, walking to his wardrobe. He threw a white shirt to Allen which was way too big for the little angel. But it looked pretty cute on Allen because it only just hid his small butt.

"You look stunning," Lavi complimented, changing into his pyjama pants. He came to loom over Allen, planting a soft peck on his lips, "And I mean it."

Allen blushed, staring at Lavi's naked chest.

"You look handsome…" he complimented back and lifted his gaze to look into Lavi's eyes, "What happened in the hall? I heard Bookman's voice but couldn't really understand what he was saying."

Lavi sat next to Allen, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy.

"It was about my next task. I'd have to leave the crew once we find the Innocence. I will become the next Bookman."

"What is a Bookman anyways?" Allen asked from Lavi, sniffing his magical scent. It smelled like fresh grass and oranges. It was wonderful scent.

"You're tired, Allen. We can talk about it tomorrow you know," Lavi smiled at Allen, kissing his forehead. He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Allen about his other personas, or bookman not having a heart which Lavi most definitely had now.

"But I want to know now or I won't be able to sleep peacefully," Allen demanded from Lavi, kissing him back sheepishly, "I understand if it's hard to speak about, but I really want to know more about you. You know about my past now."

Lavi looked at Allen's tired face. If he told him now, the boy would surely forget all he said and he didn't want that to happen either. Gosh, why did his mind have to be like a labyrinth?

"You're going to fall asleep, Allen. I don't want to tell you something you'll forget tomorrow morning."

"I'm not going to fall asleep," Allen murmured nuzzling against Lavi's neck, "You smell so good," he smiled to his friend, taking a deep breath again.

"No, I'll tell you tomorrow evening if you still want to hear or even remember this conversation," Lavi grinned, placing Allen on the bed. He covered Allen with blanket, and kissed his cheek, "Good night, Allen."

"Wait, Lavi!" Allen said grabbing Lavi's hand, "Where're you going? I thought you were going to sleep next to me," he whined his eyes tearing. Allen was most definitely tired.

Lavi laughed a little, pointing at his desk.

"I'll just check the route we'll take tomorrow and then I'll come sleep next to you. You can wait or go to sleep, okay?"

Allen nodded and settled down to the mattress. He turned onto his side, watching as Lavi sat behind his desk. He tried to stay awake, because he really wanted to fall asleep with Lavi's arms around him.

"Hurry up, Lavi…"

Lavi laughed from his position, looking at Allen's almost sleeping face.

"I'm almost ready, just try to stay awake, okay?"

"Okay…" Allen mumbled, closing his eyes from tiredness. After a while he felt a weight settle next to him. Allen opened his eyes, silvery eyes meeting with emerald ones.

"That took awhile…" he mumbled.

"Sorry, I know it did," Lavi said, pulling Allen close to his chest, "You can sleep now. Good night, Allen."

Allen kissed gently Lavi's chest, closing his eyes afterwards. "I like you Lavi, I really do. G'night…"

"I like you too, Allen."

**x**

**FINALLY THE CHAPTER IS DONE. I've spilled tears and blood for this damn chapter which I rewrote too many times. And even my computer crashed!**

**But I got good news for you guys; I got my FIRST BETA EVER~! So the reading will become more enjoyable to you guys. I'm very excited about this anyways. Beta's name is GreenGrayBlue and I really hope you check out her (I think..) fanfics too because they're just that awesome.**

**Thank you to all reviewers and patient readers. I hope you'll stick with the story even though I'm really slow at uploading. Damn college.**

_GreenGreyBlue: Hey there, I'm not one of those wanky people who are going to add some little side comment each chapter of someone else's story, so don't worry. I just want to say I'm not really an official beta and don't have a beta profile. I just offered to help out, so this is all new to me and is as much of a learning experience from me as it is for the author, Usagi. So if there are any flames about grammar, spelling, wording, pm me so I can try and fix it all up._

_Also if you don't like what I'm doing tell me about that also, or both of us. If you don't like what I'm doing it's really something both of us should know._

_Thanks, bye_


	4. Danger approaches

Rain was falling from the sky which was engulfed by huge grey clouds. The Black Exorcist wasn't moving from the shore that day, even though Lavi had planned the route carefully. Komui had insisted staying the ship stay on shore. He had said to the Captain that you'll never know if a storm breaks and Lenalee would be at immediate danger. So, what was the rabbit doing right now? He was sleeping next to Allen, holding the small frame close to his warm chest. What Lavi didn't understand, was why he let that small boy get so close to him? Well, he had wanted to do it but he would never have thought that it would feel so good. Lavi brushed his lips against Allen's neck, opening his eyes to look at the boy next to him.

"God, you're so cute," Lavi murmured at the sleeping Allen. He grinned happily when a small smile appeared on the smaller one's lips. Maybe Allen was dreaming about something good? Lavi smiled at his thoughts and buried his head back into Allen's neck. Maybe he would try to sleep a couple more hours since there was no need for them to hurry today. They could just relax and enjoy the rain falling down from the heavens. It was always kind of soothing for Lavi. The sound of rain was something that helped the red-haired boy to relax and enjoy himself. It reminded him of something from the past.

It wasn't too long after that peaceful moment when Lavi heard loud rumbling from outside. Lavi first had to make sure that it wasn't Allen's stomach. The man hopped out of the warm bed, hearing Allen turn around in his sleep. Walking to his window, and pulling back the curtains, he checked to see if there was a thunderstorm coming. Maybe Komui was right after all, there really was a storm approaching them at speed. It was the first one in few weeks so it was going to be a hard one. Lavi closed the curtains, tiptoeing back to Allen's side.

"Your feet are cold."

Lavi jumped a few feet when he heard Allen's sleepy voice next to him. He had to stifle his laugh at Allen's worries.

"You're such a cutie, Allen," Lavi smiled, kissing his forehead gently, "but that is exactly what I like about you."

"Shut up," Allen murmured, punching Lavi's ribs when he had called Allen a cutie. He turned his back to Lavi, attempting to sulk at his red-haired bunny who was now laughing happily.

"Uh… What was that rumbling? Are you hungry, Lavi?"

Lavi hugged Allen close to his chest, thinking about the answer he should give to Allen. "Well, at first I thought it was your stomach," Lavi smiled, sniffing the smaller boy's neck which had a scent of an apple, "but then I went to look out the window and I realized that it was a thunderstorm approaching. But yeah, want to go grab some breakfast or sleep-in?"

"I don't know about you but I am hungry as hell," Allen smiled, "Your cabin is also cold, if I may say so," he informed, grabbing the blanket and wrapping it around his tiny body, "Is it always this cold?"

Lavi blinked at Allen's words, tilting his head in thought.

"When it rains, yeah. I'm not quite sure what is making it happen. Here, I'll lend you one of my sweaters," he smiled, walking to his large wardrobe. After rummaging through the clothes, he threw a sweater made of wool to Allen, "It's okay if it's big. At least it'll keep you warm at some point. I don't use it anymore anyway," he added at the end and started to put on his own clothes.

Allen changed into the sweater, pulling his pants on too. When he looked at the door, he remembered something Lavi had promised to tell him. "You're going to tell me what Bookman is… Right?" Allen whispered at Lavi, who seemed to be a bit dumbfounded at the moment, "You really thought I wouldn't remember that?"

Lavi sighed heavily, listening at the rain outside. It was pouring pretty hard already. It helped Lavi to relax a little.

"I said that it will be your next lullaby," Lavi said quietly. At least Allen understood how painful it can be to explain something about the past, "I promise, Allen. Just try and wait for it a bit longer, okay?"

Allen pouted childishly, but got on with it. He'll forget it soon and when Lavi was ready to tell him, Allen was also going to be ready for it. The white-haired boy stood up from the bed, entwining their hands together.

"Lavi… I'm really sorry. Tell me when you're ready, okay? But I hope you tell me what you mean before it's too late. If Tyki comes after me and takes me away… I want to remember who you are and why its like that," Allen tried to explain, but making a mess of his words, "What I'm trying to say is that –"

"I understand already," Lavi murmured quietly, grabbing his chin with his thumb and index finger, "Just be quiet, okay? You don't have to tell me everything you think you have to. It is completely okay to keep it to yourself sometimes. I know that being emotional is hard for both of us so we don't have to force ourselves, right?"

Allen furrowed his eyebrows, circling his arms around Lavi's toned body. Why was Lavi always so damn understanding? Allen felt like he could be smothered in Lavi's fresh scent and warmth. He closed his eyes, feeling safer than ever before. Allen could hear the raindrops hitting the window and the thunderstorm getting closer, but right now he felt safe. Silence filled the entire room leaving the two boys to enjoy the feeling of security. Until…

"Walker? Captain? Are you still asleep?" Suman asked behind the door, knocking on it lightly, "Komui said that he has something to discuss with you two," he continued opening the door, only to see the two boys' hugging forms, "Oh."

Allen blushed madly, jerking away from Lavi. That was really embarrassing since no one else but Lenalee knew about their little secret. He glanced at Suman who seemed to have a small hint of redness on his cheeks. Maybe Lavi wasn't the ladies' man that he claimed to be, if Suman wasn't used to this kind of action in Lavi's cabin? Allen coughed slightly, elbowing Lavi's ribs gently.

"Right," Lavi grinned, buttoning his dress shirt up all the way up, "Do you know what it is about?" he asked, slinging his jacket casually on his shoulders. Lavi had let his hair hang loose at the moment. They didn't need to go outside so it really didn't matter.

"It seems like it's something to do with the Noah Family," Suman explained, making his way to the two younger boys who were now almost running to Komui's office. He blinked after them, closing the door behind him, "Youngsters…"

After the small hurried walk, the two boys stood in front of Komui's office. Allen raised his hand and knocked on the door, his heart racing with fear. If they had news from the Noah Family, it would most likely be bad news. Allen sighed quietly. Even though he had met with lot of happiness on the ship, he was also putting the others in great danger. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if things came to the worst. By the worst Allen meant killing all the people on the ship and also; sinking the Black Exorcist.

"Lavi…" Allen spoke up, "If it's bad news, you should leave me at the next harbour. I'm serious about this. Things are going to get ugly if–"

"Shut up," Lavi whispered when Komui opened the door with smile on his face, "You have information about the Noah? Shall we come in?"

"Yes, yes, come in~" Komui said, pushing the two boys inside his little… office, "Sorry for the mess, I've been really busy and didn't quite have the time to clean around. But my beautiful Lenalee said that I should do something about this test and stop that test and–"

"Komui, we really need to get the information," Lavi sighed and sat on the couch which was filled with papers and who knows what else, "Allen, sit next to me, will you?"

Allen strode over and sat next to Lavi, but yelped suddenly in pain.

"Why there is needle sticking out of the couch, Komui?!" he whined, rubbing his butt with his hand. Komui really should take care of his dangerous needles and potions.

"Oh, that is my newest experiment!" Komui said with huge grin on his face, "I just didn't have time to give it to anyone. I really didn't think that you'd be the one test it out… But it works either way."

"Information, please…"

"Oh. Yes, captain~!" Komui said, taking a few papers in his hand, completely forgetting about Allen who was starting to look a bit sick. Even Lavi had forgotten about Allen right now.

"This is quite serious," he said,sitting down in his own chair, "We have a letter, from a girl named… Road Kamelot, from the Noah Family," Komui started and handed the letter to Lavi, "It is addressed to you, Lavi."

Allen paled when he heard Road's name. Luckily he didn't hear anything more, but fainted on the floor. Still the two men didn't notice. The letter was obviously more important than Allen's well-being.

Lavi opened the letter with calm fingers, reading the words out loud;

"_The Millenium Earl, is search for you._

_Looking for the heart, now_

_Have you heard the news?_

_Maybe you stole it from him?_

_I'll see if it's true."_

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lavi murmured, furrowing his eyebrows, "We are still looking for the Heart, right?" he sighed quietly. The letter made no sense to him at all, "If it's true… So even they don't know!"

"Calm down, Lavi," Komui said, taking the letter from him, "What have we taken from The Earl? I can't think of any kind of trinket that is the heart."

"Maybe…" Lavi murmured in his thoughts. Just now he realized what they had taken from the Earl. Of course, why hadn't he thought it before? Lavi glanced at the unconscious Allen, "It's Allen!"

"Don't be silly, Lavi. How could there be a trinket inside of his body?" Komui sighed quietly; also looking at Allen's sleeping or rather unconscious form, "It seems like the drug worked! Now we'll just wait for the ears and tail~!"

Lavi lifted Allen to his lap, looking at his peaceful face in thought.

"What if the Innocence is already within Allen?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, "That's why they had to keep him in that life and couldn't afford him to get away. Maybe the prostitution was nothing but a mere act? And he's the Heart."

Komui took his hat off and scratched his head.

"Now that you explained it, it could make some sense actually. And that is why Road sent us this letter. But the problem is that now they know who we are, where Allen is and probably what we're doing right now. We can't move from the shore because of the thunderstorm," Komui murmured quietly, reading the lines again in thought, "There is something else, but it's in really small print:

"_Can you get away?_

_You've got one week to hide."_

Lavi petted Allen's white hair, wondering why there were cat ears on his head right now. Damn Komui and his new experiments.

"One week, huh? It seems like they're making this a game and Allen is the prize."

"It means that we have one week to find the Innocence, so we can fight against them," Komui wondered quietly. This was really getting ugly and Komui didn't like the sound of it. Because of Allen they would involve themselves in a war, but he was their comrade now and they couldn't afford to lose anyone to anybody, "We have to leave soon, we are wasting time."

"I know," Lavi whispered, and stood up from the couch, "Inform everyone what has happened. I'll take Allen to the cabin so he can rest. I will tell him about his later. Suman will take the helm along with Kanda. Hurry up."

**x**

Allen hissed in pain, when he finally started to wake up from his slumber. His head was pounding angrily. Allen turned his head around, to see Lavi on his desk, making a new route it seems. The swaying motion woke Allen up from his thoughts. They were moving in this storm? Allen started to get up from his position. "Lavi?"

"Yes?" Lavi murmured, glancing at Allen's features. Komui's drug had really worked on Allen. He swallowed at the small hint of pinkness on Allen's cheeks and white fluffy cat ears on top of his head. Damn, he even got the tail! It was too bad that the drug lasts only six hours and that's it. Allen had already slept through two.

"You're sexy like that."

"What?" Allen whispered in awe when he saw Lavi's drooling mouth. He was already expecting 'the strike' but luckily Lavi had managed to control himself. When Lavi had hinted him to look in the mirror, Allen had stormed there. He examined himself in front of the mirror a good few seconds until he realized what was different.

"Oh my god."

"It's gorgeous, right?!" Lavi beamed behind him with large grin on his face, "You look totally hot! I could do you right here and now~!"

Allen didn't really have time to get a closer look at his ears and tail, but Lavi's behaviour was something he couldn't let slide. It was way too out of control right now, and 'the strike' never came from his mouth.

"Lavi, what happened? We're suddenly moving and you're re-doing the route. And you didn't 'strike' me and the way you behave…"

Lavi's eyes went to his desk. He sighed heavily, taking out the letter from his pocket.

"I was going to hide it from you, but I think… It's not the best thing to do right now," Lavi murmured, and handed the letter to Allen who seemed to pale a few shades. Well they were going to get information about the Noah, but Allen hadn't heard anything since he decided to pass out from the drug's side-effects.

Allen took the letter with trembling hands. He didn't even want to know what would be written there. As he read the little song or poem, Allen felt sick.

"The Earl itself is on the ship? I sure hope he's not… Leave me, please. I beg you, Lavi!"

Lavi stared at Allen, his single eye flickering with emotions. He didn't want to leave Allen at the next harbour. He didn't want Allen to go through the same pain again now that he was finally freed from them. And now the boy was demanding to do it all over again. It wasn't fair at all, "We're going to fight. Komui said we'll find the Innocence before they find us. We can do this together, Allen. Even Kanda's with us, and that means a lot!"

"I don't want anyone to die because of me!" Allen yelled at Lavi with an angry tone, but soon continued, "One human life isn't worth the lives of twenty, Lavi!"

Lavi hissed at Allen's angry tone. The boy wasn't going to back down easily. Lavi sighed and pinched Allen's cat ear, making the smaller boy whine in… pleasure? He shook his head, but kept ahold on the ear.

"I'm going to lock you up if you don't do as I say. I finally found someone who understands me and who let me feel emotions! I was going to tell you about me too and now you want to leave as soon as you can because some girl sent a letter!" he yelled back at Allen who seemed to have quieted down a little, "Allen, I really care about you. I need you and you need the whole crew. We are your friends."

"I'm sorry," Allen whispered, falling to his knees. He raised his hands to cover his pale face and cried, hard, "I'm just so afraid, Lavi. So damn afraid. I care too much about you guys. I can't bear the burden if some of you were to die at the hands of the Noah. It's just too cruel a death. Do you understand, Lavi? It's going to be a really hard fight to all of us, no matter how good a fighter you are. The Noah's are–"

"Stop it," Lavi murmured, silencing Allen's lips with his finger, "Just trust us, okay? I won't let anything happen to you and I won't let any of the crew die. Alright?"

Allen smiled warily, blushing at his growling stomach. Damn, he didn't have time to eat any breakfast and lunch was already over.

"Guess its time for dinner, right?" he said to Lavi and lifting himself off the floor. Allen started to tug his tail into his pants so no one could really see it. He also stole Lavi's gorgeous pirate hat and put it on his head, "I'm ready!"

Lavi shook his head and took Allen's tail out of his pants.

"You look good with those," he grinned and took his hat also away from Allen, "Come on."

**x**

Allen tried to keep his pumpkin soup from spilling because of the swaying of the ship. It was harder than he thought it would be. Every time he tried to scoop some of the warm liquid into his mouth, the plate decided to run away from him. So now he was holding the plate in his hand, while trying not to spill anything on his clothes. Surprisingly his tail was pretty good at keeping the boy himself balanced. Lenalee seemed to have problems standing. Lavi was out with Kanda and Suman, trying to get to the next harbour. They needed to stock up on food and other supplies.

"It's been awhile since we've been in the middle of a storm like this," Lenalee smiled at Allen who gulped the last of his soup, "You've been lucky for these last weeks. Getting used to swaying bit by bit. But it seems like you don't have any problems. Is it because you were an acrobat?"

"No, I don't think it's the acrobatics," Allen smiled back at her in thought, "I heard that a cat's tail is their balance muscle and without it they can't jump correctly," he murmured at Lenalee, swinging his tail in a relaxed manner. He was getting used to them already. It wasn't like Allen despised his ears and tail now that they kept him in balance, "Besides Lavi thinks they're hot."

Lenalee giggled, sitting at the table since keeping her balance was way too hard right now.

"Did you see Kanda blushing when you came in here?" she asked in awe, "I was like 'oh my gosh, the world is coming to an end' and then he just left with Lavi."

"Whaaaaat?!" Allen almost yelled, sitting in front of Lenalee. He stuck his face close to hers, "Kanda blushed because of me? Oh my," he grinned slyly. This was getting funnier every day. Lavi would be so pissed if he knew, "What would Lavi say if he knew?" he then wondered out loud.

"Lavi, huh?" Lenalee smiled, brushing her hair with her fingers. She had to think about this for a while. Lavi seemed to be very attached to Allen, so maybe… "It will be a war if Kanda has the hots for you too. Too bad, I thought I could have chance with him."

"My my, Lenalee," Allen said with happy tone, tilting his head, "What if you put on kitty ears and a tail? Maybe Kanda has a fetish for these kinds of things."

"Oh," Lenalee wondered, bringing her hand over Allen's mouth, "Not so loud," she giggled, glancing at Kanda, Suman and Lavi who just came to the canteen, soaking from the rain, "Krory stayed at the helm then?" she asked louder.

Lavi shuddered from the cold, taking off his jacket and hat. He placed them both on a coat rack. Suman did the same with his jacket, along with Kanda. All three men sat at the table.

"Yeah, he insisted on staying alone so what could we do? Oh yeah, what were you talking about~? Some delicious gossips?" Lavi grinned from ear to ear, taking a towel from Allen who was offering it to him, "Oh yeah… I hate to ask you this Allen, but we need to wrap the sails since the storm is getting worse. Do you think you can handle it?"

Lenalee blushed and waved her hand at Lavi.

"Just some gossip about his ears and tail, that's all. And stuff…" she smiled, looking concerned at Allen next. The boy had already stood up and smiled his brightest smile, "You know its pretty dangerous Allen?"

Now it was Allen's turn to wave a hand at Lenalee.

"Pfft~ I can take care of that. All the sails, right? Is someone coming with me?" he asked, stretching his muscles.

"Yuu," Lavi said, pointing at the samurai, "He _offered_a helping hand to you, so Yuu comes with you this time. Just keep your balance and don't rush things. Stand firm, no tiptoeing. Yuu, watch him closely."

Allen smacked Lavi's head gently.

"I've done it many times before," Allen sighed, walking to the door, "Just ask Jerry to make me some hot chocolate when I'm back," he smiled, following Kanda out of the canteen.

"Kanda?" Lenalee wondered quietly when the door closed after them, "That is surprising, Lavi. Are you sure Kanda is not going to kill him or something?" she asked Lavi. If Kanda really had offered help…

Lavi blinked from Lenalee's words. "Nah, I don't he will. I think he just feels like Allen's his little brother, you know? Maybe he feels like Allen needs to be protected because he's so small," Lavi nodded to his own knowledge.

"Or he's trying to get into Allen's pants."

"Suman!" Lenalee gasped at his words, "But he has a point. Lavi, Allen will be snatched from you for good if Kanda gets wild. What could be hotter than a sword-wielding samurai who has–"

"Girly looks?"

"Suman…" Lavi tried to stifle his laugh at Suman's blunt words, "Yah, there is just no way Allen could fall for a guy who looks like a woman, no offence Lenalee. I'm so much more of a man than Yuu will ever be. I stole Allen's heart already."

_Meanwhile…_

"Get you fucking ass up there already you damn fake cat!"

Allen choked on his spit while he was climbing the wet ropes towards the mast and sails.

"What? I can't hear your girly voice over this wind, Jerkanda!" he yelled back, focusing on his climbing. When he finally got to the upper fork, he had to balance with his hands and his tail. Damn. The fork was so slippery.

"What's taking so long!?" Kanda growled when Allen started to fumble with the sails. Okay, he offered his help to Allen, but now it seemed more like a bad idea. The storm was getting worse every single second and Allen was too slow.

Allen heard Kanda's voice faintly as he pulled the first sail and tied it to the fork with much effort. He almost even slipped while he was pulling the sails. They turned out to be very heavy when wet.

"Shit," he whispered, rubbing his freezing fingers. The wind was freezing the shit out of him when he was soaked.

Allen took a quick glance around, only to see a ship on the horizon, or something that resembled a ship. He squinted his eyes. It was hard to see in the storm, but he was pretty sure it was a ship with a black sail. When he was about to yell at Kanda about the ship, it just disappeared.

"What?" he wheezed in confusion. Soon someone woke him up from his thoughts, when a hand touched his shoulder. Allen yelled in panic and slipped from the fork, only to be caught by a strong hand.

"Fuck you, beansprout. I thought you died or something," Kanda huffed, lifting Allen back to the fork, "Let's get this done with and go back inside."

"Ye-yes," Allen stuttered, heart still racing from surprise and fear.

**x**

Lavi felt Allen's forehead with his hand. He had wrapped Allen tightly in blankets and shoved a steaming cup of hot chocolate into his freezing hands. Kanda had already told Lavi about Allen's spacing out at the ocean and it had made him worried. Allen wasn't the kind of person who would space out when something was dangerous. To him Allen didn't feel feverish so it had to be something else. They were currently sitting on a sofa. The room they were in was some kind of parlour. The furniture was nailed to the floor so that they wouldn't slide across the room along with the piano.

"What happened up there?" Lavi asked.

Allen furrowed his eyebrows in thought, looking at Lavi's concerned eye with confusion.

"I… I really don't know. I thought I saw a ship on the horizon with a black flag. When I was going to tell Kanda about it, it just… disappeared. Then I started to wonder if something was wrong with my head. Then I was scared to death when Kanda suddenly touched my shoulder."

"Well, it's not unordinary to think that you saw a ship. Sometimes the storms make those kind of illusion on the sea. Don't worry about it, okay?" Lavi grinned his trademark grin, wrapping his arm around Allen's shoulders, "Besides, Yuu said he was scared for the first time you were here when you fell from the fork. That is something, isn't it?"

"Uh… Yeah," Allen murmured quietly, sipping hot liquid down his throat. The sweet flavour was something Allen could never let go. Hot chocolate was just so good, "How long does it take to get to the next harbour?"

Lavi stretched his legs, pulling Allen closer and onto his lap.

"I think we'll be there before nightfall," he said, petting Allen's cat ears gently. Allen seemed to be enjoying the contact, "I suggested that you stay on the ship since we don't know if the Noah are following our trail."

"What?" Allen grunted, almost spilling his hot chocolate on Lavi, "Why can't I come?! C'mon! It's not like I'm a helpless little boy who can't do anything. Besides it would be good for me to be on land sometimes, to see other people… And I kind of want to play poker too!"

Lavi rolled his eyes. He knew he would have to fight over this too. Allen was just so… You could easily lose sight of him.

"You're not leaving the ship. I'm serious. If someone was to steal you right under my nose, I wouldn't forgive myself. Alright? So you stay on this ship."

"Someone could snatch me from the ship too. It doesn't matter where I am, okay?" Allen sighed, drinking the last of his hot chocolate. Lavi was being overly protective when it came to the Noah, "Nothing bad has happened. Besides, they gave us a week. No offence, but you're just way too protective."

"I care about you," Lavi said, sighing when Allen left the parlour with haste. Damn, he angered Allen. Lavi took the mug and blankets with him as he made his way to the canteen. Maybe he could get some else to talk to him and get it through his thick skull.

After a short walk, which seemed like an hour to Lavi, he finally made it to the canteen. He gave the empty mug to Jerry and jumped in surprise when Reever come up and grab his shoulder.

"Sorry about this, Captain. Komui said that we'll be at Santo Domingo soon. He asked what to do about Walker."

Lavi stared at Komui's secretary, making his way towards Komui's office. Reever was walking behind him, yawning from what seemed like exhaustion.

"Get some sleep when we're out at the town, okay?"

Reever scratched his head, yawning again at the same time.

"I'll see if I have time for it, Captain," he said blankly, opening Komui's door, "I got the Captain for you."

"Yes, thank you," Komui said, gesturing Lavi to sit down on the sofa. This time he saw Lavi checking the sofa for anything that seemed suspicious. He took one syringe away and put it on the desk.

"Soooo… About Allen?"

Komui nodded, scribbling something on his papers. Lavi never really disturbed Komui when he was working. He didn't even know why they had this crazy scientist on board, but Komui had showed some really amazing medical knowledge… Even though he was crazy.

"I thought it would be best if he stayed on board," Lavi started, grinning a bit, "but Allen got angry about it, so I'm currently rethinking my plan."

"I understand how Allen feels," Komui said, looking at Lavi from behind his glasses. He seemed to be in deep thought and the room fell into silence. When Komui finally opened his mouth, it really surprised Lavi, "Why not take Allen with you? Just keep an eye on him. Take Kanda and Daisya with you. Five eyes are better than one, after all. You can do this business while those two watch for Allen."

Lavi pursed his lips. Komui had a point. It wasn't good if he smothered Allen too much. "Sounds like a plan then. Where is Daisya anyway?"

"He's sleeping in his room probably. Daisya is just like that. But yeah, take those two with you, Captain," Komui murmured, going back to do his work like always, or sleeping.

"Thanks for the advice, Komui," Lavi grinned, slipping out of the office with heavy sigh. Now he should find Allen and explain this to him. Allen was not allowed to be out of their sight, not even for ten seconds.

Lavi walked along the corridors, towards his cabin. He had a hunch that Allen would be there. He stopped at his door, and put his hand on the doorknob. Lavi opened the door carefully, only to see Allen sulking on the bed.

"Allen," he sighed and walked towards his dear friend whom he liked more than was allowed, "I decided with Komui that you can come into town–"

"YES!"

"– But you can't leave or wander off alone. You'll have Daisya, Yuu and myself watching over you at all times."

"Sucks."

"Its better than nothing, right?" Lavi sighed again, ruffling Allen's white hair. He was so cute, pouting like a little child, "Since your ears and tail went away while I was gone, I don't think you'll draw too much attention. You could be an old man."

Allen smiled.

"Shut up," he said, punching Lavi's arm gently, "So what do we need from town?"

**x**

"It's huge!" Allen breathed when they finally stood on the ground. He could smell all kinds of food around them. It wasn't really that dark, but the sun was already setting. Allen heard music coming from the deeper part of town, "Let's go already!"

"Hey! Wont ya calm down~?" Daisya sighed, sneaking his arm around Allen's shoulders, "I'm gonna' watch over ya, so don't go jumping 'round like a horny bunny, ya know?"

"Daisya…" Lavi sighed and smacked his head gently, "And Allen, don't draw too much attention, okay? Just keep it down. I'll promise you can go play poker once we get everything done."

"Tsk…" Kanda snapped, petting his katana gently. Damn, he needed to watch over the bean sprout with Daisya. It was going to be a pain for sure, but if they messed up they would get Lavi over their heads. And that wasn't good thing in Kanda's opinion.

"Hey, bean sprout! If you mess up, I'll cut you down when I find you."

"Oh? And how do you plan to catch me if I get kidnapped~?" Allen smirked, dodging Kanda's sword easily, "Missed me~"

Lavi groaned, pulling Allen away from Kanda.

"Calm down, all of you. Let's go," he sighed, walking towards the town with the three boys following quietly behind him. He did pay a lot attention to the people around him, "Just don't get lost. Alright? This is a big town," Lavi instructed, making sure the three were still following him, "I'm going to this store here," he pointed at the food supply store, "you three wait outside."

"Yes sir!" Daisya fake-saluted to his captain, glancing at Allen. "Are ya okay, kid?"

Allen flinched, looking at Daisya in awe.

"Y-yes. I just got memories flowing when I saw… You know," he whispered, not wanting Kanda hear. Allen knew that Kanda despised prostitution. The way he looked at homeless people on the street was also in disgusted.

Daisya petted Allen's hair gently, looking around. It was true. This town was known for prostitution, but that was people's own choice to make here. Allen didn't have a choice at all.

"Just… Look at this ball," Daisya said, giving his charity bell to Allen, "Don't lose it."

"I won't," Allen promised, sliding his fingers along the bell. It was like a doorbell or something like that. It was kind of pretty if someone asked his opinion about it. Lavi was still in the shop, but it really didn't amaze him. Lavi was so keen on history that perhaps he got his tongue tangled on some kind of story. Allen's eyes averted somewhere else, when he smelled a familiar brand of tobacco. It somehow… reminded him of something but he couldn't recall what it was.

"Are ya still there?" Daisya waved his hand over Allen's silver pools. Man that boy was just too cute for his own good. It was no wonder why Lavi took a liking to him. He seemed so innocent in his own way, "Did ya see somethin' or what?"

"Oh yeah, sorry," Allen smiled at Daisya, shaking his head, "No I didn't. I just got lost in my thoughts."

Kanda sighed and whacked Allen's head with his fist.

"Don't lose your focus. You need to tell us if you see something out of ordinary so that we can be aware of it. You spacing doesn't help, at all."

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"For being an idiot."

"Calm down, will ya? You guys are drawin' too much attention here!"

"I'm sorry!"

"I'm not going to say sorry you fucking–!"

"Is there a problem, sirs?" an unfamiliar voice asked before them. He was a slender man, with short, messy blonde hair. It fell a bit to his eyes, but there was slight concern there. To Allen's eyes he seemed to be from Asia, maybe from China, "I'm sorry, but someone might get hurt."

Allen bowed politely at this man. "I'm – I mean we are very sorry for this commotion!" he said, bowing up and down, again and again, "My friends here are a bit lively," Allen said when he finally stopped his bowing ritual, "Thank you for your concern, mister."

"The great 'me' is Bak Chang," he introduced himself, shaking hands with Allen, "Wow… I mean… I thought you were an old man, but I guess I was wrong. Sorry, if I'm a bit rude."

Allen blushed gently, scratching his head. "My name is Allen Walker," he told this Asian man, who seemed to own darker eyes, somewhere around violet. He felt Barry hit his fist against his head, again, "Ow…"

"Ya stupid mutt! You can't go tellin' yer name 'round the town, Walker!"

"Uh? Excuse me?" Bak asked when he shielded Allen from getting more fists to his head, "Are you on some kind of undercover thing? I won't tell anyone, okay? Just don't go hitting anyone. It's not an answer to your questions! My honourable self can't accept that kind of torture towards little kids!"

"What's going on here?" the red-haired captain sighed as he leaned against doorframe, maybe leaving those three alone wasn't the best decision after all, "Thank you, for shielding my little angel from these two."

"It's not a problem at all! Easy job for someone like myself!" Bak smiled widely, ruffling Allen's hair. He snatched a coin from the air. It was probably thrown by this red-haired man.

"Keep your mouth shut about this, okay?" Lavi grinned, taking Allen back to him, "We don't need more attention than we already have."

"Yes, of course," Bak promised, waving his hand to Allen, "I hope we'll meet again someday!"

Allen waved back to Bak, hurrying back to Lavi's side. To him, Lavi seemed a bit stressed about the confrontation with the Chinese man.

"Lavi? Are you okay? I-I can go back to ship if you want," Allen murmured, making Lavi stop on his tracks. He understood now why Lavi had wanted him to say at the ship. People really were staring at him, "I think its better."

Lavi's eye softened at Allen. He finally seemed to understand.

"I got it," Lavi whispered, kneeling in front of Allen, "I'll be back by evening. Daisya, you go with Allen. It'll take some time before you get to the ship, but don't let Allen out of your sight," Lavi asked from Daisya, kissing Allen's forehead gently, "Now go."

After the group went their own ways, Allen had started to walk behind Daisya. He kept his fingers around the fabric of man's shirt, careful not to get lost in the town. Now that he had seen the nasty looks from people, he really wanted to get back to the ship.

They had been waking a few minutes or so, before Daisya opened his mouth.

"Allen? Are ya still with me?" he asked, stopping when he didn't feel the pressure on his shirt anymore. He looked over his shoulders, eyes widening when he didn't see Allen anywhere near him. "Oh my god…" he whispered, walking back where he had been walking, "Allen!?"

Daisya started running, trying to find the white-haired angel among the mass of people. It didn't help that sun had already set, making it difficult to see. Then he saw a mop of white hair, lunging his hand towards the shoulder.

"Thank god, Allen!" he whispered, but only to be disappointed when an old face was looking at him in confusion, "Ah, sorry," he murmured, making his way back to where he had run. He then kicked something which made same kind of sound as his bell. It was no doubt his charity bell. He lifted it from the ground, looking around. "Alleeeeeen!"

_Somewhere else…_

"Shit…" Allen whispered as he leaned against the cool surface of a tiled wall. How could he let go for a second, and vanish in the mass of people? Allen's heart was racing from fear and sadness. He didn't have the courage to ask anything from anyone since Lavi and Daisya had been already fumed about him telling people his name. Allen was afraid that someone would intentionally offer him the wrong road and then the Noah would have him again. And he dropped the charity bell too! Damn it. He was such a loser right now.

Allen sneezed quietly, wiping some lonely tears away from his face. He just needed to find his way back to the ship, simple. Just keep walking somewhere and you'll end up to the sea? Right? And where the sea was, there would be a ship.

"They wouldn't leave me here… right?" he asked more from himself. Allen wiped his nose, looking at a black cat which seemed to be lost too, "Are you lost too?" Allen asked the feline, petting the cat's hair. It had this really nice bell around the neck, "Do you know where we are?"

The cat meowed quietly, purring at the touch of Allen's hand.

"I guess you don't," he smiled, looking at the stars. Lavi had taught him about the stars too. Allen felt his sight blur again, and he wiped the tears away. He needed to find his way back, now. Mana had taught that you must never stop walking, so he'll walk until he would find the others again.

Allen pushed himself from the wall, leaving the beautiful feline alone. So he started walking, somewhere, just going straight. He would get to the sea in no-time, right? He's feet were aching already because he wasn't used to running and walking after such a long time. What he didn't expect was to bump into something tall and muscular. For a second he thought it was Lavi, but Lavi didn't smoke, especially not the brand he smelled earlier. He lifted his gaze towards a man who was supposed to be dead for years.

"Y-you…"

_At the ship…_

"What do you mean he's gone!?" Lavi yelled at Daisya, hitting his fist to the wooden wall. He was so angry. So damn angry and worried about Allen, "How can you lose him?!"

"Lavi!" Lenalee yelled, taking a hold of his fist, "That doesn't help at all! Calm down, please."

"How the hell I'm going to calm down when someone I adore, is out in the town god knows where?!" Lavi growled at Lenalee, who backed away from her captain, "You should've informed me immediately, Daisya! Not when I come back to the ship!" he said, slumping against the wall. Lavi had thought that being with Daisya, Allen would've been protected but no. Even the charity bell was here, so naturally it meant that Allen was probably kidnapped. Allen wouldn't toss something like that away.

"What if he did it on purpose?" Bookman grunted from the table, "He dropped the charity bell, so that we would think that he was kidnapped. He did want to leave from the ship, so that we wouldn't be in danger. Am I right, Lavi?"

Lenalee's eyes widened. Maybe that was it. Allen had sneaked away from Daisya. Lenalee furrowed her eyebrows in deep thought.

"Allen wouldn't leave without leaving at least a letter. He cared for Lavi, a lot," she whispered, nibbling her lip, "I miss him already."

"So what do we do now, captain?" Suman asked, tapping his fingers against the table, "Leave Allen here, or go look for him?"

Lavi sighed heavily, not really knowing what to do. But now he would listen to his heart, even though his brains were saying something else.

"We will all go look for Allen and bring him back by force if he's not cooperative."

**x**

**Cliffhanger! Yayyy~! You're going to hate me now, right? Sorry about the tardiness, again. But I hope this chapter is okay, even though I rushed the ending. It thought it would be easier for me to write, since I have now many options how to continue. ****Who do you think Allen met at the streets**


	5. AUTHOR'S NOTE

AUTHOR'S NOTE;

I'm really sorry that I haven't been able to update. :c Things have happened. I got hit by a car and my writing was in hold because I was so busy and everything I did hurt like hell. I haven't given up on this story and the next chapter is on its way. And I fell in love, that's the one reason also. But I'll get back to it as soon as I can. Thank you for your continued support!

Hugs and kisses,

usagi.


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